chiquillovschiquillosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,489
“chiquillo” frequency rank
#34,940
“chiquillos” frequency rank
69429
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chiquillo chiquillos
Definition Persona de cortos años que aun no alcanza la pubertad. Forma del plural de chiquillo.

Where the eye mixes chiquillo and chiquillos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. chiquillo runs 9 letters (CCVCVVCCV) against chiquillos's 10 (CCVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
chiquillo
10 ch
chiquillos

Visual trap between chiquillo and chiquillos

A purely visual mix-up. chiquillo ([t͡ʃiˈkiʝo]) and chiquillos ([t͡ʃiˈkiʝos]) 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) - “chiquillo” sits inside “chiquillos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69429, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chiquillo is recorded at frequency rank #34,489, classified as anoun, pronounced [t͡ʃiˈkiʝo]. chiquillos is at rank #34,940, tagged as anoun, pronounced [t͡ʃiˈkiʝos].

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 69429, this pair ranks #32,009 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of chiquillo vs chiquillos

Shared letters: chiloqu. Private to "chiquillo": -. Private to "chiquillos": s.

"chiquillo" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVVCCV  ·  "chiquillos" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chiquillo ← cchiquillo · chhiquillo · chiqiullo · chiqquillo · chiquilo · chiquilol · chiqulilo · chiuqillo
  • chiquillos ← cchiquillos · chhiquillos · chiqiullos · chiqquillos · chiquilloss · chiquillso · chiquilols · chiquilos

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chiquillo" and "chiquillos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([t͡ʃiˈkiʝo] versus [t͡ʃiˈkiʝos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "chiquillo" or "chiquillos"?
"chiquillo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,489 in our Spanish list, against #34,940 for "chiquillos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "chiquillo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chiquillos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #32,009 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chiquillo" and "chiquillos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "casquillos vs chiquillos". 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 #32,009 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