detective

[d̪et̪ekˈt̪iβ̞e]

/[d̪et̪ekˈt̪iβ̞e]/ noun

The verdict

“detective” has 14 generated spelling variants in the Spanish index at frequency #9,975. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,975
frequency rank, Spanish
4,885
“D” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Oficial de policía o investigador privado cuya función es buscar información como evidencia para resolver un crimen.

Corpus desk

Index ES-detective · detective · Spanish

detective · rank #9,975 · 14 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,975
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,885
  • PHOTO-FINISH detallado

Nearest frequency peer: detallado (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Pares de rango junto al imán ortográfico “detective”

Misma franja de rareza: útil si un typo cae en un lema vecino

corpus weight

What this shows “detective” está entre estos pares FrequencyWords; la profundidad de typo se mide aparte en el gráfico de distancia de edición.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

detective vs detectives
90% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for detective
PropertyValue
Headworddetective
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[d̪et̪ekˈt̪iβ̞e]
Letters9
Frequency rank#9,975
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frecuencia del imán ortográfico “detective”

Esta escala corre desde el núcleo del español cotidiano (izquierda) hasta el rastro de formas rara vez usadas (derecha).detectivecae aquí:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Los ticks avanzan en logaritmo; cada uno es del orden de diez veces más raro. En la misma franja de rareza aparecen “detallado” (#9,974), “devoción” (#9,976), “describen” (#9,972). Entre 4,885 lemas con “D”, “detective” va en #9,975. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around detective (IPA [d̪et̪ekˈt̪iβ̞e]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #9,975 among 4,885 “D” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Oficial de policía o investigador privado cuya función es buscar información como evidencia para resolver un crimen.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for detective, with forms such as "ddetective", "deetctive", and "detcetive". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "detectives", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No documented word history exists 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 detective, spelled D-E-T-E-C-T-I-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Oficial de policía o investigador privado cuya función es buscar información como evidencia para resolver un crimen.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddetective
  • deetctive
  • detcetive
  • detecctive
  • detecitve
  • detectibe
  • detectiev
  • detectivve
  • detecttive
  • detectvie
  • detetcive
  • dettective
  • dteective
  • edtective

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of detective - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ddetective1deetctive2detcetive2detecctive1detecitve2detectibe1detectiev2detectivve1
Edit distance from "detective"

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 "detective"?
"detective" is spelled D-E-T-E-C-T-I-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is [d̪et̪ekˈt̪iβ̞e].
What does "detective" mean?
As a noun, "detective" means: Oficial de policía o investigador privado cuya función es buscar información como evidencia para resolver un crimen.
What words are commonly confused with "detective"?
"detective" is commonly confused with "detectives". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "detective"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "detective" is [d̪et̪ekˈt̪iβ̞e]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "detective" come from?
"detective" is a Spanish word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar Spanish words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "detective", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list