Which to use
“defunción” and “desunión” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,967
- “defunción” frequency rank
- #47,726
- “desunión” frequency rank
- 69693
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | defunción | desunión |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Acción y efecto de morir, en especial una persona. | Disolución o pérdida de la unión o cercanía existente entre dos seres o elementos que estaban juntos. Proceso y resultado de desunir o desunirse. |
Where the eye mixes defunción and desunión
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. defunción runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVVC) against desunión's 8 (CVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: defunción vs desunión
A purely visual mix-up. defunción ([d̪efũnˈsjõn]) and desunión ([d̪esuˈnjõn]) 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 69693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
defunción is recorded at frequency rank #21,967, classified as anoun, pronounced [d̪efũnˈsjõn]. desunión is at rank #47,726, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪esuˈnjõn].
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 69693, this pair ranks #31,416 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of defunción vs desunión
Shared letters: deinuó. Private to "defunción": cf. Private to "desunión": s.
"defunción" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC · "desunión" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "defunción" for "desunión" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "defunción" or "desunión" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "defunción" and "desunión" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "defunción" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desunión" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #31,416 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "defunción" and "desunión" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defunción vs defunciones". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #31,416 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.