Which to use
“chavos” and “chicos” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,941
- “chavos” frequency rank
- #959
- “chicos” frequency rank
- 26900
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chavos | chicos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (Sambucus ebulus) Hierba de la familia de las caprifoliáceas, crece hasta dos metros con tallos erectos; el fruto es una baya tóxica, de color negro, pequeña y globosa de 5 a 6mm de diámetro. | Forma del plural de chico. |
Where the eye mixes chavos and chicos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between chavos and chicos
A purely visual mix-up. chavos ([ˈt͡ʃaβ̞os]) and chicos ([ˈt͡ʃikos]) 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 26900, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chavos is recorded at frequency rank #25,941, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡ʃaβ̞os]. chicos is at rank #959, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡ʃikos].
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 26900, this pair ranks #229,412 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chavos vs chicos
Shared letters: chos. Private to "chavos": av. Private to "chicos": i.
"chavos" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "chicos" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chavos" for "chicos" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "chavos" or "chicos" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "chavos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chicos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #229,412 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chavos" and "chicos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chavos vs cholos". 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 #229,412 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.