difícil
[d̪iˈfisil]
The verdict
“difícil” has 11 generated spelling variants in the Spanish index at frequency #480. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #480
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 90,663
- “D” headwords
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Duro, costoso, complicado, no fácil, que requiere mucho trabajo o esfuerzo para poder realizarse.
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 | difícil |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [d̪iˈfisil] |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #480 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “difícil” sits in Spanish frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 11 spelling variants around difícil (IPA [d̪iˈfisil]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #480 among 90,663 “D” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Duro, costoso, complicado, no fácil, que requiere mucho trabajo o esfuerzo para poder realizarse.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for difícil, with forms such as "ddifícil", "dfiícil", and "difcíil". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "difíciles", "déficit", 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, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct Spanish form is difícil, spelled D-I-F-Í-C-I-L.
Definition
- 1Duro, costoso, complicado, no fácil, que requiere mucho trabajo o esfuerzo para poder realizarse.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddifícil,dfiícil,difcíil,diffícil,difíccil,difícill,difícli,difíicl,difísil,diífcil,idfícil
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of difícil - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "difícil"?
What does "difícil" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "difícil"?
How do you pronounce "difícil"?
What language does "difícil" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “difícil”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is D-I-F-Í-C-I-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [d̪iˈfisil] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “difíciles” - see the side-by-side comparison. difícil vs difíciles
- Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish words
Same frequency band
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.