imbécil

[ĩmˈbesil]

/[ĩmˈbesil]/ adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“imbécil” has 12 generated spelling variants in the Spanish index at frequency #6,911. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,911
frequency rank, Spanish
3,428
“I” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Que tiene poca fuerza, en particular física.

Corpus desk

Index ES-imbecil · imbécil · Spanish

imbécil · rank #6,911 · 12 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,911
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,428
  • PHOTO-FINISH hueco

Nearest frequency peer: hueco (-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 “imbécil”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “imbécil” 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).

imbécil vs imbéciles
78% similar

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

Key facts for imbécil
PropertyValue
Headwordimbécil
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ĩmˈbesil]
Letters7
Frequency rank#6,911
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frecuencia del imán ortográfico “imbécil”

De izquierda a derecha: las pocas palabras que cargan el habla diaria, luego la cola larga casi invisible.imbécilcae aquí:

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

La escala es logarítmica (cada marca ≈ 10× más rara). En la misma franja de rareza aparecen “hueco” (#6,910), “imperial” (#6,912), “gubernamental” (#6,909). Entre 3,428 lemas con “I”, “imbécil” va en #6,911. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around imbécil (IPA [ĩmˈbesil]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #6,911 among 3,428 “I” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for imbécil, with forms such as "ibmécil", "imbbécil", and "imbcéil". 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, "imbéciles", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct Spanish form is imbécil, spelled I-M-B-É-C-I-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Que tiene poca fuerza, en particular física.
  2. 2
    Por extensión, que tiene poca inteligencia o entendimiento
  3. 3
    Por extensión, una persona desagradable e irritante.
  4. 4
    En particular, que padece una deficiencia cognitiva que le impide alfabetizarse, aunque sea capaz de utilizar el lenguaje hablado.
  5. 5
    Dicho de una cosa, propia de alguien imbécil_(2–3).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how imbécil appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Posteridad tremenda, Tú te alzarás, y en tu robusta mano La fuerza imbécil de esto siglo enano En tu balanza pesarás fatal.
  2. Pero tampoco, Sátira, imagines que han arado los años mi semblante, y que son las estólidas chocheces de un imbécil decrépito, o los ciegos delirios de un celebro siempre indócil a la impresión del gusto, mis versillos.

Synonyms

débil

This word in other languages

imbecile(English)imbécile(Français)dumm(Deutsch)imbecil(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ibmécil
  • imbbécil
  • imbcéil
  • imbéccil
  • imbécill
  • imbécli
  • imbéicl
  • imbésil
  • immbécil
  • imvécil
  • imébcil
  • mibécil

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of imbécil - 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.

ibmécil2imbbécil1imbcéil2imbéccil1imbécill1imbécli2imbéicl2imbésil1
Edit distance from "imbécil"

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 "imbécil"?
"imbécil" is spelled I-M-B-É-C-I-L. The IPA pronunciation is [ĩmˈbesil].
What does "imbécil" mean?
As an adjective, "imbécil" means: Que tiene poca fuerza, en particular física.
What words are commonly confused with "imbécil"?
"imbécil" is commonly confused with "imbéciles". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "imbécil"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "imbécil" is [ĩmˈbesil]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "imbécil" come from?
"imbécil" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "imbécil", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Irlanda#6,916exitoso#6,905detiene#6,898ocurren#6,931

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

italianos12 variantsdisparar12 variantsmascotas12 variantsdependen12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list