siesta
[ˈsjest̪a]
The verdict
“siesta” is a moderately-common Spanish word, ranked #10,072 in Spanish word frequency and used as a noun.
- #10,072
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 14
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Tiempo después del mediodía en que aprieta más el calor.
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 | siesta |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈsjest̪a] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #10,072 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 14 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “siesta” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for siesta is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈsjest̪a]. Corpus data places it at rank #10,072 in overall Spanish word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for siesta, with forms such as "ciesta", "isesta", and "seista". 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 14 confusable-pair relationships, "sita", "siete", "suelta", 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 its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct Spanish form is siesta, spelled S-I-E-S-T-A.
Definition
- 1Tiempo después del mediodía en que aprieta más el calor.
- 2Tiempo destinado para dormir o descansar después de la comida del mediodía.
- 3Dormida o sueño que se toma después de comer, especialmente al mediodía o durante las primeras horas de la tarde.
- 4Música que en las iglesias se canta o toca por la tarde.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ciesta,isesta,seista,siesat,siessta,siestta,sietsa,siseta,ssiesta
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of siesta - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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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What does "siesta" mean?
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Using “siesta”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is S-I-E-S-T-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈsjest̪a] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “sita” - see the side-by-side comparison. siesta vs sita
- 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.