Which to use
“cabello” is a noun and “cabelludo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,440
- “cabello” frequency rank
- #35,917
- “cabelludo” frequency rank
- 38357
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cabello | cabelludo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cada uno de los pelos que crecen en la cabeza. | Que tiene mucho cabello o el cabello largo. |
Where the eye mixes cabello and cabelludo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cabello with cabelludo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cabello is [kaˈβ̞eʝo] while cabelludo is [kaβ̞eˈʝuð̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38357, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cabello is recorded at frequency rank #2,440, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈβ̞eʝo]. cabelludo is at rank #35,917, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kaβ̞eˈʝuð̞o].
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 38357, this pair ranks #170,458 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cabello vs cabelludo
Shared letters: abcelo. Private to "cabello": -. Private to "cabelludo": du.
"cabello" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "cabelludo" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cabello" and "cabelludo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cabello" or "cabelludo" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "cabello" and "cabelludo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cabello" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cabelludo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #170,458 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cabello" and "cabelludo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cabello vs Capella". 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 #170,458 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.