zorrillo

[soˈriʝo]

/[soˈriʝo]/ noun

The verdict

“zorrillo” is uncommon Spanish (frequency #53,958 among 220 “Z” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,958
frequency rank, Spanish
220
“Z” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - (Mephitis, Conepatus, Mydaus, Spilogale) Cualquier especie de la familia de los mefítidos, pequeños carnívoros de color negro con dos fajas blancas al costado, que despide cuando le atacan un líqui...

Corpus desk

Index ES-zorrillo · zorrillo · Spanish

zorrillo · rank #53,958 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,958
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 220
  • PHOTO-FINISH zarista

Nearest frequency peer: zarista (-2 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.

Rangos de cola larga cerca de “zorrillo”

Banda escasa: las barras invierten el rango para que lo raro se lea más corto

corpus weight

What this shows Vista de cola larga: dónde “zorrillo” se sitúa frente a rangos españoles igualmente raros.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for zorrillo
PropertyValue
Headwordzorrillo
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[soˈriʝo]
Letters8
Frequency rank#53,958
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Cola larga: rango de “zorrillo” en español

La frecuencia va del puñado de palabras que usamos sin parar (izquierda) a la cola larga que apenas aparece (derecha).zorrillocae en esta cola de rareza:

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

El eje es logarítmico: cada tick marca unas diez veces menos frecuencia. Vecinos raros de la misma franja: “zarista” (#53,956), “yogures” (#53,954), “yak” (#53,953). Entre 220 lemas con “Z”, “zorrillo” va en #53,958. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

zorrillo is uncommon Spanish at frequency #53,958 among 220 “Z” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [soˈriʝo]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for zorrillo, suggesting the orthography follows predictable Spanish patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

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 zorrillo, spelled Z-O-R-R-I-L-L-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    (Mephitis, Conepatus, Mydaus, Spilogale) Cualquier especie de la familia de los mefítidos, pequeños carnívoros de color negro con dos fajas blancas al costado, que despide cuando le atacan un líquido pestífero.
  2. 2
    Figuradamente, algo o alguien maloliente.
  3. 3
    Por analogía, vehículo policial equipado para disparar gas lacrimógeno.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. El modo de matar los zorrinos es con las bolas, ganándoles viento arriba: así no pueden mirar ni las bolas. Después de muertos se les pincha la barriga para que acaben de salir los orines y así con esta operación no hieden los cueros.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

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 "zorrillo"?
"zorrillo" is spelled Z-O-R-R-I-L-L-O. The IPA pronunciation is [soˈriʝo].
What does "zorrillo" mean?
As a noun, "zorrillo" means: (Mephitis, Conepatus, Mydaus, Spilogale) Cualquier especie de la familia de los mefítidos, pequeños carnívoros de color negro con dos fajas blancas al costado, que despide cuando le atacan un líqui...
How do you pronounce "zorrillo"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "zorrillo" is [soˈriʝo]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "zorrillo" come from?
"zorrillo" 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 "zorrillo", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list