chalecovschamacoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#14,542
“chaleco” frequency rank
#48,282
“chamaco” frequency rank
62824
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chaleco chamaco
Definition Prenda de vestir que cubre el torso desde el cuello a la cintura, sin mangas, que se emplea como abrigo u ornamentación por encima de la camisa. Ser humano de corta edad, en especial el que no ha llegado a la pubertad.

Where the eye mixes chaleco and chamaco

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
chaleco
7 ch
chamaco

Why the eye confuses chaleco with chamaco

A purely visual mix-up. chaleco ([t͡ʃaˈleko]) and chamaco ([t͡ʃaˈmako]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62824, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chaleco is recorded at frequency rank #14,542, classified as anoun, pronounced [t͡ʃaˈleko]. chamaco is at rank #48,282, tagged as anoun, pronounced [t͡ʃaˈmako].

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 62824, this pair ranks #50,742 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of chaleco vs chamaco

Shared letters: acho. Private to "chaleco": el. Private to "chamaco": m.

"chaleco" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "chamaco" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chalecocahleco · cchaleco · chaelco · chalceo · chalecco · chaleoc · challeco · chhaleco
  • chamacocahmaco · cchamaco · chaamco · chamacco · chamaoc · chamcao · chammaco · chhamaco

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "chaleco" for "chamaco" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([t͡ʃaˈleko] versus [t͡ʃaˈmako]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "chaleco" vs "chamaco" - which ranks higher?
"chaleco" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,542 in our Spanish list, against #48,282 for "chamaco". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "chaleco" and "chamaco" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "chaleco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chamaco" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #50,742 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chaleco" and "chamaco" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chamaco vs Chasco". 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 #50,742 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