decidevsdespideWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,041
“decide” frequency rank
#17,108
“despide” frequency rank
20149
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decide despide
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de decidir o de decidirse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de despedir.

Where the eye mixes decide and despide

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
decide
7 ch
despide

Look-alike desk: decide vs despide

A purely visual mix-up. decide ([d̪eˈsið̞e]) and despide ([d̪esˈpið̞e]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20149, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decide is recorded at frequency rank #3,041, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈsið̞e]. despide is at rank #17,108, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈpið̞e].

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 20149, this pair ranks #260,583 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of decide vs despide

Shared letters: dei. Private to "decide": c. Private to "despide": ps.

"decide" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "despide" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • decidedceide · ddecide · deccide · decdie · decidde · decied · deicde · deside
  • despideddespide · depside · desipde · despdie · despidde · despied · desppide · desspide

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "decide" and "despide" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈsið̞e] versus [d̪esˈpið̞e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "decide" or "despide"?
"decide" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,041 in our Spanish list, against #17,108 for "despide". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "decide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "despide" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #260,583 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decide" and "despide" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desire vs despide". 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 #260,583 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