despacio
[d̪esˈpasjo]
The verdict
“despacio” is a regularly-used Spanish word, ranked #8,941 in Spanish word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #8,941
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Que procede lentamente.
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 | despacio |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | [d̪esˈpasjo] |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #8,941 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “despacio” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for despacio is 8 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [d̪esˈpasjo]. Corpus data places it at rank #8,941 in overall Spanish word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for despacio, with forms such as "ddespacio", "depsacio", and "desapcio". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "destaco", "despidió", "despecho", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct Spanish form is despacio, spelled D-E-S-P-A-C-I-O.
Definition
- 1Que procede lentamente.
- 2Que emplea mucho tiempo.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddespacio,depsacio,desapcio,despaccio,despacoi,despaico,despasio,despcaio,desppacio,desspacio,dsepacio,edspacio
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of despacio - 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 "despacio"?
What does "despacio" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "despacio"?
How do you pronounce "despacio"?
What language does "despacio" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “despacio”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is D-E-S-P-A-C-I-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [d̪esˈpasjo] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “destaco” - see the side-by-side comparison. despacio vs destaco
- 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.