chicovschingoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,235
“chico” frequency rank
#15,044
“chingo” frequency rank
16279
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chico chingo
Definition Se dice de lo que tiene un tamaño reducido o menor en comparación con otras cosas o seres vivos. Diminuto.

Where the eye mixes chico and chingo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
chico
6 ch
chingo

Look-alike desk: chico vs chingo

A purely visual mix-up. chico ([ˈt͡ʃiko]) and chingo ([ˈt͡ʃĩŋgo]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16279, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chico is recorded at frequency rank #1,235, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡ʃiko]. chingo is at rank #15,044, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡ʃĩŋgo].

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 16279, this pair ranks #276,822 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of chico vs chingo

Shared letters: chio. Private to "chico": -. Private to "chingo": gn.

"chico" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "chingo" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chicocchico · chcio · chhico · chicco · chioc · cihco · hcico
  • chingocchingo · chhingo · chigno · chinggo · chinngo · chinog · chnigo · cihngo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "chico" for "chingo" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt͡ʃiko] versus [ˈt͡ʃĩŋgo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "chico" or "chingo"?
"chico" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,235 in our Spanish list, against #15,044 for "chingo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "chico" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chingo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #276,822 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chico" and "chingo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chingo vs chungo". 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 #276,822 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