décimovsdelitoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: décimo is a num, delito is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“décimo” is a num and “delito” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,794
“décimo” frequency rank
#1,766
“delito” frequency rank
10560
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décimo delito
Definition Que ocupa el puesto siguiente al noveno en una serie ordenada. Ordinal del diez. Acción que viola la ley y conlleva pena.

Where the eye mixes décimo and delito

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
décimo
6 ch
delito

Look-alike desk: décimo vs delito

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décimo is [ˈd̪esimo] while delito is [d̪eˈlit̪o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10560, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décimo is recorded at frequency rank #8,794, classified as anum, pronounced [ˈd̪esimo]. delito is at rank #1,766, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪eˈlit̪o].

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 10560, this pair ranks #298,165 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of décimo vs delito

Shared letters: dio. Private to "décimo": cmé. Private to "delito": elt.

"décimo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "delito" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • delitoddelito · deilto · deliot · delitto · dellito · deltio · dleito · edlito

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "décimo" and "delito" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "décimo" is a num and "delito" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "décimo" or "delito"?
"delito" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,766 in our Spanish list, against #8,794 for "décimo". 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 "décimo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "delito" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #298,165 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décimo" and "delito" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decaído vs décimo". 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 #298,165 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