cepillovscepillosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,042
“cepillo” frequency rank
#37,485
“cepillos” frequency rank
52527
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cepillo cepillos
Definition Utensilio consistente en un mango y una base, sobre la cual se fijan cerdas u otros elementos flexibles aptos para el cepillado. Existen diversos tipos, diferenciados por los materiales y por el uso al que están destinados. Forma del plural de cepillo.

Where the eye mixes cepillo and cepillos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. cepillo runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against cepillos's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
cepillo
8 ch
cepillos

Look-alike desk: cepillo vs cepillos

A purely visual mix-up. cepillo ([seˈpiʝo]) and cepillos ([seˈpiʝos]) 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) - “cepillo” sits inside “cepillos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52527, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cepillo is recorded at frequency rank #15,042, classified as anoun, pronounced [seˈpiʝo]. cepillos is at rank #37,485, tagged as anoun, pronounced [seˈpiʝos].

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 52527, this pair ranks #92,257 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cepillo vs cepillos

Shared letters: ceilop. Private to "cepillo": -. Private to "cepillos": s.

"cepillo" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "cepillos" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cepillo ← ccepillo · ceipllo · cepilo · cepilol · ceplilo · ceppillo · cpeillo · ecpillo
  • cepillos ← ccepillos · ceipllos · cepilloss · cepillso · cepilols · cepilos · ceplilos · ceppillos

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cepillo" for "cepillos" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([seˈpiʝo] versus [seˈpiʝos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cepillo" or "cepillos"?
"cepillo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,042 in our Spanish list, against #37,485 for "cepillos". 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 "cepillo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cepillos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #92,257 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cepillo" and "cepillos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "capullos vs cepillos". 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 #92,257 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