alcaidevsalcaldesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“alcaide” and “alcaldes” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,655
“alcaide” frequency rank
#6,484
“alcaldes” frequency rank
30139
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alcaide alcaldes
Definition Funcionario designado por el rey para la defensa de una fortaleza durante el Medioevo. Forma del plural de alcalde.

Where the eye mixes alcaide and alcaldes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. alcaide runs 7 letters (VCCVVCV) against alcaldes's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
alcaide
8 ch
alcaldes

Look-alike desk: alcaide vs alcaldes

A purely visual mix-up. alcaide ([alˈkajð̞e]) and alcaldes ([alˈkal̪d̪es]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30139, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alcaide is recorded at frequency rank #23,655, classified as anoun, pronounced [alˈkajð̞e]. alcaldes is at rank #6,484, tagged as anoun, pronounced [alˈkal̪d̪es].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 30139, this pair ranks #213,483 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of alcaide vs alcaldes

Shared letters: acdel. Private to "alcaide": i. Private to "alcaldes": s.

"alcaide" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV  ·  "alcaldes" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alcaide ← aclaide · alacide · alcadie · alcaidde · alcaied · alccaide · alciade · allcaide
  • alcaldes ← aclaldes · alacldes · alcadles · alcalddes · alcaldess · alcaldse · alcaleds · alcalldes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "alcaide" for "alcaldes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([alˈkajð̞e] versus [alˈkal̪d̪es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "alcaide" or "alcaldes" show up more?
"alcaldes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,484 in our Spanish list, against #23,655 for "alcaide". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "alcaide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alcaldes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #213,483 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alcaide" and "alcaldes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alcaide vs Alcides". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #213,483 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list