Which to use
“complace” is a verb and “complice” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,050
- “complace” frequency rank
- #45,823
- “complice” frequency rank
- 61873
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | complace | complice |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de complacer o de complacerse. | Grafía obsoleta de cómplice. |
Where the eye mixes complace and complice
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between complace and complice
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: complace is [kõmˈplase] while complice is [kõmˈplise]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “complace” becomes i in “complice”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61873, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
complace is recorded at frequency rank #16,050, classified as averb, pronounced [kõmˈplase]. complice is at rank #45,823, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kõmˈplise].
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 61873, this pair ranks #53,969 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of complace vs complice
Shared letters: celmop. Private to "complace": a. Private to "complice": i.
"complace" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV · "complice" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "complace" and "complice" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "complace" or "complice" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "complace" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "complice" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #53,969 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "complace" and "complice" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "complice vs cumpliré". 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 #53,969 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.