malo

Name: malo, Spanish Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

[ˈmalo]

/[ˈmalo]/ adj

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“malo” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #826) as an adjective. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#826
frequency rank, Spanish: 3,868
“M” headwords: 4
tracked misspellings: 20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Se dice de lo que no está bien hecho.

Corpus desk

Index ES-malo · malo · Spanish

malo · rank #826 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

FREQ-CORE #826
LEN-MID 4 letters
VOW-2 2 vowels
CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
VAR-LOW 4 variants
BOOK-MID 3,868
PHOTO-FINISH hicieron

Nearest frequency peer: hicieron (-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.

esperar

99,178
hicieron

99,176
malo

99,175
mantener

99,174
modelo

99,173
natural

99,172

What this shows Las barras sitúan “malo” frente a los lemas españoles más cercanos por rango, no un reprint del escritorio de confusables.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

malo vs mo

50% similar

malo vs más

25% similar

malo vs mil

50% similar

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

Key facts for malo
Property	Value
Headword	malo
Language	Spanish
Part of speech	Adjective
IPA	[ˈmalo]
Letters	4
Frequency rank	#826
Misspellings tracked	4
Confusable pairs	20
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Rango de corpus junto a confusables de “malo”

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

#826

#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 “hicieron” (#825), “mantener” (#827), “modelo” (#828). Entre 3,868 lemas con “M”, “malo” va en #826. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for malo is neighbouring look-alikes ("mo", "más", …), not just typos; it is anadjective pronounced [ˈmalo]. Frequency #826 among 3,868 “M” headwords. 13 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for malo, with forms such as "mallo", "maol", and "mlao". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, 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, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct Spanish form is malo, spelled M-A-L-O.

Definition

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

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

Ese fue un mal trabajo.
He pasado una mala noche.

This word in other languages

bad(English)mauvais(Français)verdorben(Deutsch)mau(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

mallo
maol
mlao
mmalo

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

Edit distance from "malo"

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 "malo"?

"malo" is spelled M-A-L-O. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈmalo].

What does "malo" mean?

As an adjective, "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. 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 "malo", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

sale#834 boca#817 cree#842 diez#806