caladovscaldosWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,887
“calado” frequency rank
#45,796
“caldos” frequency rank
63683
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature calado caldos
Definition Labor que se hace con aguja de coser o bordar en alguna tela, sacando o juntando hilos, con que se imita la randa o encaje. Forma del plural de caldo.

Where the eye mixes calado and caldos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. calado (CVCVCV) and caldos (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
calado
6 ch
caldos

Why the eye confuses calado with caldos

A purely visual mix-up. calado ([kaˈlað̞o]) and caldos ([ˈkal̪d̪os]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63683, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

calado is recorded at frequency rank #17,887, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈlað̞o]. caldos is at rank #45,796, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkal̪d̪os].

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 63683, this pair ranks #47,978 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of calado vs caldos

Shared letters: acdlo. Private to "calado": -. Private to "caldos": s.

"calado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "caldos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • calado ← aclado · caaldo · caladdo · calaod · caldao · ccalado · claado
  • caldos ← acldos · cadlos · calddos · caldoss · caldso · calldos · calods · ccaldos

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "calado" and "caldos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈlað̞o] versus [ˈkal̪d̪os]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "calado" vs "caldos" - which ranks higher?
"calado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,887 in our Spanish list, against #45,796 for "caldos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "calado" and "caldos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "calado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "caldos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #47,978 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "calado" and "caldos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calco vs caldos". 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 #47,978 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