delegarvsdespegarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,564
“delegar” frequency rank
#16,558
“despegar” frequency rank
44122
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature delegar despegar
Definition Traspasar la responsabilidad de un cargo o una decisión de una persona a otra. Separarse de la superficie, iniciar el vuelo, especialmente un avión.

Where the eye mixes delegar and despegar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. delegar runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against despegar's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
delegar
8 ch
despegar

Look-alike desk: delegar vs despegar

A purely visual mix-up. delegar ([d̪eleˈɣ̞aɾ]) and despegar ([d̪espeˈɣ̞aɾ]) 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 44122, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

delegar is recorded at frequency rank #27,564, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eleˈɣ̞aɾ]. despegar is at rank #16,558, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪espeˈɣ̞aɾ].

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 44122, this pair ranks #138,785 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of delegar vs despegar

Shared letters: adegr. Private to "delegar": l. Private to "despegar": ps.

"delegar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "despegar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • delegar ← ddelegar · deelgar · deleagr · delegarr · deleggar · delegra · delgear · dellegar
  • despegar ← ddespegar · depsegar · desepgar · despeagr · despegarr · despeggar · despegra · despgear

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "delegar" and "despegar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eleˈɣ̞aɾ] versus [d̪espeˈɣ̞aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "delegar" vs "despegar" - which ranks higher?
"despegar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,558 in our Spanish list, against #27,564 for "delegar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "delegar" and "despegar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "delegar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "despegar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #138,785 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "delegar" and "despegar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "delegar 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 #138,785 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