malo

/[ˈmalo]/ adj

Letters

4 characters

Frequency Rank

#826

in Spanish word usage

Misspellings

4

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

malo is anSpanishadj. It means: Se dice de lo que no está bien hecho. Pronounced [ˈmalo]. It ranks #826 in Spanish word frequency. Often confused with mo and más.

Key facts for malo
PropertyValue
Headwordmalo
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechAdj
IPA[ˈmalo]
Letters4
Frequency rank#826
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of malo in Spanish word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The Spanish entry for malo is 4 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈmalo]. Corpus data places it at rank #826 in overall Spanish word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 13 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 4 documented wrong-spelling variants for malo, with forms such as "mallo", "maol", and "mlao". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "mo", "más", "mil", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct Spanish form is malo, spelled M-A-L-O, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Se dice de lo que no está bien hecho.
  2. 2
    Se dice de lo que tiene connotaciones desagradables y negativas.
  3. 3
    Se dice de la persona con maldad.
  4. 4
    Se dice de lo que no tiene gracia y no gusta.
  5. 5
    Se dice de lo que entraña un peligro.
  6. 6
    Que causa deterioro o daño.
  7. 7
    Que no tiene mala conducta y comete travesuras.
  8. 8
    Deteriorado.
  9. 9
    Con la salud alterada.
  10. 10
    Se dice de quien carece de habilidad o talento en una disciplina o arte.
  11. 11
    Comida o bebida pasada o podrida.
  12. 12
    Errado, incorrecto.
  13. 13
    Contrario a la buena educación, la ética y los buenos principios.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: mallo,maol,mlao,mmalo

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for malo

Misspelling Variants of "malo"

mallo5maol4mlao4mmalo5
Misspelling Variants of "malo"

Frequency rank: #826 in Spanish

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "malo"?
"malo" is spelled M-A-L-O. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈmalo].
What does "malo" mean?
As an adj, "malo" means: Se dice de lo que no está bien hecho.
What words are commonly confused with "malo"?
"malo" is commonly confused with "mo", "más", "mil". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "malo"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "malo" is [ˈmalo]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "malo" come from?
"malo" 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.

Nearby Spanish words

Other entries that begin with the letter M in our Spanish index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.