caladovscolmadoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#17,887
“calado” frequency rank
#39,645
“colmado” frequency rank
57532
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature calado colmado
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. Tienda dedicada al expendio por menor de provisiones y vituallas, en general no perecederas.

Where the eye mixes calado and colmado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. calado runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against colmado's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
calado
7 ch
colmado

Look-alike desk: calado vs colmado

A purely visual mix-up. calado ([kaˈlað̞o]) and colmado ([kolˈmað̞o]) 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 57532, 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]. colmado is at rank #39,645, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kolˈmað̞o].

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 57532, this pair ranks #70,148 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of calado vs colmado

Shared letters: acdlo. Private to "calado": -. Private to "colmado": m.

"calado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "colmado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • calado ← aclado · caaldo · caladdo · calaod · caldao · ccalado · claado
  • colmado ← ccolmado · clomado · colamdo · collmado · colmaddo · colmaod · colmdao · colmmado

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "calado" and "colmado" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈlað̞o] versus [kolˈmað̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "calado" or "colmado" show up more?
"calado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,887 in our Spanish list, against #39,645 for "colmado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "calado" and "colmado" 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 "colmado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #70,148 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "calado" and "colmado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "colador vs colmado". 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 #70,148 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