caudillovscaudillosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,786
“caudillo” frequency rank
#24,773
“caudillos” frequency rank
39559
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caudillo caudillos
Definition Quien, como cabeza y superior, guía y manda a gente de guerra. Forma del plural de caudillo.

Where the eye mixes caudillo and caudillos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. caudillo runs 8 letters (CVVCVCCV) against caudillos's 9 (CVVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
caudillo
9 ch
caudillos

Look-alike desk: caudillo vs caudillos

A purely visual mix-up. caudillo ([kawˈð̞iʝo]) and caudillos ([kawˈð̞iʝos]) 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 extra letter(s) - “caudillo” sits inside “caudillos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39559, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caudillo is recorded at frequency rank #14,786, classified as anoun, pronounced [kawˈð̞iʝo]. caudillos is at rank #24,773, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kawˈð̞iʝos].

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 39559, this pair ranks #163,837 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caudillo vs caudillos

Shared letters: acdilou. Private to "caudillo": -. Private to "caudillos": s.

"caudillo" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCCV  ·  "caudillos" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caudillo ← acudillo · caduillo · cauddillo · caudilo · caudilol · caudlilo · cauidllo · ccaudillo
  • caudillos ← acudillos · caduillos · cauddillos · caudilloss · caudillso · caudilols · caudilos · caudlilos

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caudillo" and "caudillos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kawˈð̞iʝo] versus [kawˈð̞iʝos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "caudillo" or "caudillos" show up more?
"caudillo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,786 in our Spanish list, against #24,773 for "caudillos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "caudillo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "caudillos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #163,837 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caudillo" and "caudillos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Campillo vs caudillo". 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 #163,837 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