criollo
[ˈkɾjoʝo]
The verdict
“criollo” is a moderately-common Spanish word, ranked #13,876 in Spanish word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #13,876
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 7
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Dicho del hijo de europeos nacido en América.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | criollo |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [ˈkɾjoʝo] |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #13,876 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “criollo” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for criollo is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈkɾjoʝo]. Corpus data places it at rank #13,876 in overall Spanish word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for criollo, with forms such as "ccriollo", "cirollo", and "crilolo". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "criollos", "chollo", "criolla", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct Spanish form is criollo, spelled C-R-I-O-L-L-O.
Definition
- 1Dicho del hijo de europeos nacido en América.
- 2Aplícase al negro nacido en América, por oposición al que ha sido traído de África.
- 3Relativo a lo propio de América, en especial Hispanoamérica.
- 4un pidgin que se vuelve la lengua nativa de una generación tras la criollización de este. Generalmente surgen en comunidades que habitan en rutas comerciales o tras procesos de colonización y debido a ello presentan rasgos provenientes de múltiples lenguas.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccriollo,cirollo,crilolo,criolo,criolol,croillo,crriollo,rciollo
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of criollo - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "criollo"?
What does "criollo" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "criollo"?
How do you pronounce "criollo"?
What language does "criollo" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “criollo”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is C-R-I-O-L-L-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈkɾjoʝo] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “criollos” - see the side-by-side comparison. criollo vs criollos
- Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.