cursivscurvoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#21,627
“cursi” frequency rank
#43,495
“curvo” frequency rank
65122
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cursi curvo
Definition Que pretende elegancia, distinción o refinamiento sin poseerlo verdaderamente, resultando ridículo. Que se dobla o se aleja gradualmente de la línea o dirección recta sin formar ángulos.

Where the eye mixes cursi and curvo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cursi and curvo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
cursi
5 ch
curvo

Visual trap between cursi and curvo

A purely visual mix-up. cursi ([ˈkuɾsi]) and curvo ([ˈkuɾβ̞o]) 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 65122, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cursi is recorded at frequency rank #21,627, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkuɾsi]. curvo is at rank #43,495, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkuɾβ̞o].

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 65122, this pair ranks #43,576 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cursi vs curvo

Shared letters: cru. Private to "cursi": is. Private to "curvo": ov.

"cursi" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "curvo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cursi ← ccursi · crusi · curci · curis · currsi · curssi · cusri · ucrsi
  • curvo ← ccurvo · cruvo · curbo · curov · currvo · curvvo · cuvro · ucrvo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cursi" and "curvo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkuɾsi] versus [ˈkuɾβ̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cursi" or "curvo"?
"cursi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,627 in our Spanish list, against #43,495 for "curvo". 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 "cursi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "curvo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #43,576 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cursi" and "curvo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "curt vs curvo". 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 #43,576 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