colegavscóleraWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,932
“colega” frequency rank
#10,121
“cólera” frequency rank
16053
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature colega cólera
Definition Persona con la que se comparte el pertenecer a una profesión o equipo de trabajo u organización. Bilis.

Where the eye mixes colega and cólera

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

6 ch
colega
6 ch
cólera

Visual trap between colega and cólera

A purely visual mix-up. colega ([koˈleɣ̞a]) and cólera ([ˈkoleɾa]) 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 16053, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

colega is recorded at frequency rank #5,932, classified as anoun, pronounced [koˈleɣ̞a]. cólera is at rank #10,121, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkoleɾa].

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 16053, this pair ranks #277,700 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of colega vs cólera

Shared letters: acel. Private to "colega": go. Private to "cólera": .

"colega" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "cólera" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • colegaccolega · cloega · coelga · coleag · colegga · colgea · collega · oclega

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "colega" and "cólera" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([koˈleɣ̞a] versus [ˈkoleɾa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "colega" or "cólera" show up more?
"colega" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,932 in our Spanish list, against #10,121 for "cólera". 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 "colega" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cólera" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #277,700 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "colega" and "cólera" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cederá vs cólera". 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 #277,700 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