pillo

[ˈpiʝo]

/[ˈpiʝo]/ adj

The verdict

“pillo” has 5 generated spelling variants in the Spanish index at frequency #18,643. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#18,643
frequency rank, Spanish
6,028
“P” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Se dice del pícaro que no tiene crianza ni buenos modales.

Corpus desk

Index ES-pillo · pillo · Spanish

pillo · rank #18,643 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #18,643
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,028
  • PHOTO-FINISH pescados

Nearest frequency peer: pescados (-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 “pillo”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “pillo” 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).

pillo vs pío
40% similar
pillo vs piso
60% similar
pillo vs polo
60% similar

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

Key facts for pillo
PropertyValue
Headwordpillo
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ˈpiʝo]
Letters5
Frequency rank#18,643
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frecuencia del imán ortográfico “pillo”

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

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

El eje es logarítmico: cada tick marca unas diez veces menos frecuencia. En la misma franja de rareza aparecen “pescados” (#18,642), “Pergamino” (#18,641), “preocupo” (#18,645). Entre 6,028 lemas con “P”, “pillo” va en #18,643. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around pillo (IPA [ˈpiʝo]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #18,643 among 6,028 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for pillo, with forms such as "ipllo", "pilo", and "pilol". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pío", "piso", "polo", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct Spanish form is pillo, spelled P-I-L-L-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    Se dice del pícaro que no tiene crianza ni buenos modales.
  2. 2
    Dicho de una persona o animal, sagaz, de inteligencia rápida, hábil para obtener lo que desea.
  3. 3
    Vago, perdido, de costumbres estragadas.
  4. 4
    Vil, de baja condición moral; falto de escrúpulos o respeto a otros.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ipllo
  • pilo
  • pilol
  • plilo
  • ppillo

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pillo - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ipllo2pilo1pilol2plilo2ppillo1
Edit distance from "pillo"

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 "pillo"?
"pillo" is spelled P-I-L-L-O. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈpiʝo].
What does "pillo" mean?
As an adjective, "pillo" means: Se dice del pícaro que no tiene crianza ni buenos modales.
What words are commonly confused with "pillo"?
"pillo" is commonly confused with "pío", "piso", "polo". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pillo"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pillo" is [ˈpiʝo]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "pillo" come from?
"pillo" 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 "pillo", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list