Which to use
“dejar” and “desear” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #392
- “dejar” frequency rank
- #7,138
- “desear” frequency rank
- 7530
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dejar | desear |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Depositar o colocar una cosa en su sitio. | Querer una cosa con mucho anhelo. |
Where the eye mixes dejar and desear
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dejar vs desear
A purely visual mix-up. dejar ([d̪eˈxaɾ]) and desear ([d̪eseˈaɾ]) 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 7530, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dejar is recorded at frequency rank #392, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈxaɾ]. desear is at rank #7,138, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eseˈaɾ].
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 7530, this pair ranks #307,746 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dejar vs desear
Shared letters: ader. Private to "dejar": j. Private to "desear": s.
"dejar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "desear" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dejar" and "desear" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "dejar" or "desear" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dejar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desear" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #307,746 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dejar" and "desear" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desear vs develar". 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 #307,746 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.