compulsivavscompulsivoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#38,587
“compulsiva” frequency rank
#27,532
“compulsivo” frequency rank
66119
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature compulsiva compulsivo
Definition Forma del femenino de compulsivo. Dicho de una persona, que padece necesidad irrefrenable de realizar determinados actos.

Where the eye mixes compulsiva and compulsivo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. compulsiva and compulsivo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
compulsiva
10 ch
compulsivo

Visual trap between compulsiva and compulsivo

A purely visual mix-up. compulsiva ([kõmpulˈsiβ̞a]) and compulsivo ([kõmpulˈsiβ̞o]) 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 a single letter - a in “compulsiva” becomes o in “compulsivo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66119, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

compulsiva is recorded at frequency rank #38,587, classified as anadj, pronounced [kõmpulˈsiβ̞a]. compulsivo is at rank #27,532, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kõmpulˈsiβ̞o].

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 66119, this pair ranks #40,720 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of compulsiva vs compulsivo

Shared letters: cilmopsuv. Private to "compulsiva": a. Private to "compulsivo": -.

"compulsiva" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV  ·  "compulsivo" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • compulsiva ← ccompulsiva · cmopulsiva · commpulsiva · complusiva · comppulsiva · compulciva · compulisva · compullsiva
  • compulsivo ← ccompulsivo · cmopulsivo · commpulsivo · complusivo · comppulsivo · compulcivo · compulisvo · compullsivo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "compulsiva" and "compulsivo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõmpulˈsiβ̞a] versus [kõmpulˈsiβ̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "compulsiva" or "compulsivo" show up more?
"compulsivo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,532 in our Spanish list, against #38,587 for "compulsiva". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "compulsiva" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "compulsivo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #40,720 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "compulsiva" and "compulsivo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "compasiva vs compulsiva". 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 #40,720 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