Which to use
“caló” and “clavo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,964
- “caló” frequency rank
- #9,776
- “clavo” frequency rank
- 46740
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caló | clavo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Lengua de contacto formada a partir del léxico romaní y la gramática española, usada por los gitanos de España, Portugal y el sur de Francia, y que ha influído en el argot, la germanía y el lenguaje informal de la península ibérica. | Pequeña barra de metal delgada y puntiaguda, que se inserta en tablas, paredes y tabiques con un martillo, con el propósito de sujetar o pegar. |
Where the eye mixes caló and clavo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. caló runs 4 letters (CVCV) against clavo's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses caló with clavo
A purely visual mix-up. caló ([kaˈlo]) and clavo ([ˈklaβ̞o]) 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 46740, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caló is recorded at frequency rank #36,964, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈlo]. clavo is at rank #9,776, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈklaβ̞o].
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 46740, this pair ranks #124,045 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of caló vs clavo
Shared letters: acl. Private to "caló": ó. Private to "clavo": ov.
"caló" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "clavo" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- clavo ← cclavo · clabo · claov · clavvo · cllavo · clvao · lcavo
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "caló" and "clavo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "caló" or "clavo" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "caló" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clavo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #124,045 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caló" and "clavo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caló vs cult". 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 #124,045 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.