púa

[ˈpua]

/[ˈpua]/ noun

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

The verdict

“púa” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #46,152) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#46,152
frequency rank, Spanish
6,028
“P” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Cuerpo de forma acicular, flexible, con punta afilada.

Corpus desk

Index ES-pua · púa · Spanish

púa · rank #46,152 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #46,152
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,028
  • PHOTO-FINISH pícara

Nearest frequency peer: pícara (-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.

Vecinos de frecuencia del confusable “púa”

Pares de peso similar en el corpus, aparte de los confusables abajo

corpus weight

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

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).

púa vs py
33% similar
púa vs pub
33% similar
púa vs pum
33% similar

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

Key facts for púa
PropertyValue
Headwordpúa
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈpua]
Letters3
Frequency rank#46,152
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Rango de corpus junto a confusables de “púa”

Esta escala corre desde el núcleo del español cotidiano (izquierda) hasta el rastro de formas rara vez usadas (derecha).púacae 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 “pícara” (#46,151), “quemamos” (#46,153), “Quindío” (#46,154). Entre 6,028 lemas con “P”, “púa” va en #46,152. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for púa is neighbouring look-alikes ("py", "pub", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [ˈpua]. Frequency #46,152 among 6,028 “P” headwords. 7 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

púa has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "py", "pub", "pum", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct Spanish form is púa, spelled P-Ú-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Cuerpo de forma acicular, flexible, con punta afilada.
  2. 2
    En particular, cada una de las púas que forman la defensa natural de un erizo o puercoespín.
  3. 3
    Plectro semirrígido usado para pulsar las cuerdas en algunos instrumentos musicales.
  4. 4
    Estilo o aguja que recorre la superficie del surco donde la información se guarda en los discos de vinilo, para transmitirla al equipo productor de sonido.
  5. 5
    Vástago de un vegetal que se injerta sobre otro, llamado pie, para obtener un ejemplar más rústico o rendidor.
  6. 6
    Arma blanca.
  7. 7
    Persona avispada y sagaz que obtiene réditos de manera criminal.

Synonyms

agujaespina

This word in other languages

pic(Français)

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 "púa"?
"púa" is spelled P-Ú-A. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈpua].
What does "púa" mean?
As a noun, "púa" means: Cuerpo de forma acicular, flexible, con punta afilada.
What words are commonly confused with "púa"?
"púa" is commonly confused with "py", "pub", "pum". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "púa"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "púa" is [ˈpua]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "púa" come from?
"púa" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "púa", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

mou#46,072tad#46,240ite#46,021yet#46,283

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list