Which to use
“decaído” is a verb and “descuido” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,678
- “decaído” frequency rank
- #16,072
- “descuido” frequency rank
- 60750
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | decaído | descuido |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participio de decaer. | Espacio de tiempo en el que uno deja de prestar atención a lo que está haciendo, normalmente con consecuencias negativas. |
Where the eye mixes decaído and descuido
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. decaído runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against descuido's 8 (CVCCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between decaído and descuido
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: decaído is [d̪ekaˈið̞o] while descuido is [d̪esˈkwið̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60750, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
decaído is recorded at frequency rank #44,678, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪ekaˈið̞o]. descuido is at rank #16,072, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪esˈkwið̞o].
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 60750, this pair ranks #57,859 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of decaído vs descuido
Shared letters: cdeo. Private to "decaído": aí. Private to "descuido": isu.
"decaído" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV · "descuido" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- descuido ← ddescuido · decsuido · desccuido · desciudo · descudio · descuiddo · descuiod · desscuido
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "decaído" for "descuido" ever safe?
Frequency check: "decaído" vs "descuido" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "decaído" and "descuido" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "decaído" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "descuido" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #57,859 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "decaído" and "descuido" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decaído vs decid". 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 #57,859 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.