capilarvscapitularWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: capilar is a adjective, capitular is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“capilar” is an adjective and “capitular” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,983
“capilar” frequency rank
#34,479
“capitular” frequency rank
68462
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature capilar capitular
Definition Propio del cabello o relacionado con él. Hacer o poner a alguien capítulos de cargos, excesos o delitos en el ejercicio de su empleo.

Where the eye mixes capilar and capitular

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
capilar
9 ch
capitular

Why the eye confuses capilar with capitular

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: capilar is [kapiˈlaɾ] while capitular is [kapit̪uˈlaɾ]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68462, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

capilar is recorded at frequency rank #33,983, classified as anadj, pronounced [kapiˈlaɾ]. capitular is at rank #34,479, tagged as averb, pronounced [kapit̪uˈlaɾ].

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 68462, this pair ranks #34,436 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of capilar vs capitular

Shared letters: acilpr. Private to "capilar": -. Private to "capitular": tu.

"capilar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "capitular" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • capilaracpilar · caiplar · capialr · capilarr · capillar · capilra · capliar · cappilar
  • capitularacpitular · caiptular · capitluar · capittular · capitualr · capitularr · capitullar · capitulra

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "capilar" for "capitular" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "capilar" is an adjective and "capitular" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "capilar" or "capitular" show up more?
"capilar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,983 in our Spanish list, against #34,479 for "capitular". 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 "capilar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "capitular" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #34,436 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "capilar" and "capitular" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calar vs capilar". 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 #34,436 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