coyotevscoyotesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#25,972
“coyote” frequency rank
#39,139
“coyotes” frequency rank
65111
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coyote coyotes
Definition (Canis latrans) Miembro de la cánidos emparentado con el perro doméstico. Los coyotes sólo se encuentran en América del Norte; desde Canadá hasta Panamá. Forma del plural de coyote.

Where the eye mixes coyote and coyotes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. coyote runs 6 letters (CVVVCV) against coyotes's 7 (CVVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
coyote
7 ch
coyotes

Look-alike desk: coyote vs coyotes

A purely visual mix-up. coyote ([koˈʝot̪e]) and coyotes ([koˈʝot̪es]) 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) - “coyote” sits inside “coyotes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65111, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coyote is recorded at frequency rank #25,972, classified as anoun, pronounced [koˈʝot̪e]. coyotes is at rank #39,139, tagged as anoun, pronounced [koˈʝot̪es].

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 65111, this pair ranks #43,598 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of coyote vs coyotes

Shared letters: ceoty. Private to "coyote": -. Private to "coyotes": s.

"coyote" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCV  ·  "coyotes" · 7 letters · shape CVVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coyote ← ccoyote · cooyte · coyoet · coyotte · coytoe · coyyote · cyoote · ocyote
  • coyotes ← ccoyotes · cooytes · coyoets · coyotess · coyotse · coyottes · coytoes · coyyotes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "coyote" for "coyotes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([koˈʝot̪e] versus [koˈʝot̪es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "coyote" vs "coyotes" - which ranks higher?
"coyote" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,972 in our Spanish list, against #39,139 for "coyotes". 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 "coyote" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "coyotes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #43,598 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "coyote" and "coyotes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "camote vs coyote". 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 #43,598 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