menos
[ˈmenos]
The verdict
“menos” is in the everyday core of Spanish, ranked #109 in Spanish word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #109
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Comparativo irregular de poco, que indica disminución o inferioridad.
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 | menos |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | [ˈmenos] |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #109 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “menos” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for menos is 5 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈmenos]. Corpus data places it at rank #109 in overall Spanish word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for menos, with forms such as "emnos", "mennos", and "menoss". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "mes", "meo", "míos", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct Spanish form is menos, spelled M-E-N-O-S.
Definition
- 1Comparativo irregular de poco, que indica disminución o inferioridad.
- 2Cuando acompaña a una cantidad, indica que hay un cierto número indeterminado e inferior de la misma.
- 3En oraciones negativas, introduce un argumento que refuerza la negación.
- 4Introduce una idea de rechazo más poderosa que otra que se menciona.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: emnos,mennos,menoss,menso,meons,mmenos,mneos
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of menos - 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
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Using “menos”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is M-E-N-O-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈmenos] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “mes” - see the side-by-side comparison. menos vs mes
- Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish words
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.