chicosvscholosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#959
“chicos” frequency rank
#49,510
“cholos” frequency rank
50469
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chicos cholos
Definition Forma del plural de chico. Forma del plural de cholo.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chicos and cholos apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
chicos
6 ch
cholos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. chicos ([ˈt͡ʃikos]) and cholos ([ˈt͡ʃolos]) 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 50469, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chicos is recorded at frequency rank #959, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡ʃikos]. cholos is at rank #49,510, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡ʃolos].

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 50469, this pair ranks #103,037 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chicos vs cholos

Shared letters: chos. Private to "chicos": i. Private to "cholos": l.

"chicos" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "cholos" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chicoscchicos · chcios · chhicos · chiccos · chicoss · chicso · chiocs · cihcos
  • cholosccholos · chholos · chloos · chollos · choloss · cholso · chools · cohlos

Frequency comparison

chicos#959
cholos#49,510

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chicos" and "cholos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt͡ʃikos] versus [ˈt͡ʃolos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "chicos" or "cholos"?
"chicos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #959 in our Spanish list, against #49,510 for "cholos". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering chicos vs cholos

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “chicos” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list