Which to use
“compás” and “costas” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,053
- “compás” frequency rank
- #5,483
- “costas” frequency rank
- 21536
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | compás | costas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Instrumento formado por dos piezas articuladas, utilizado para trazar círculos o traspasar medidas. | Conjunto de gastos de un proceso legal o judicial. |
Where the eye mixes compás and costas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses compás with costas
A purely visual mix-up. compás ([kõmˈpas]) and costas ([ˈkost̪as]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21536, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
compás is recorded at frequency rank #16,053, classified as anoun, pronounced [kõmˈpas]. costas is at rank #5,483, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkost̪as].
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 21536, this pair ranks #254,486 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of compás vs costas
Shared letters: cos. Private to "compás": mpá. Private to "costas": at.
"compás" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "costas" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- costas ← ccostas · cosats · cosstas · costass · costsa · costtas · cotsas · csotas
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "compás" for "costas" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "compás" or "costas" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "compás" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "costas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #254,486 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "compás" and "costas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "comba vs compás". 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 #254,486 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.