delfínvsdelfinoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,551
“delfín” frequency rank
#42,938
“delfino” frequency rank
59489
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature delfín delfino
Definition (familia Delphinidae) Cualquiera de varias especies de mamíferos marinos del orden de los cetáceos. Miden entre 2 y 9 metros de largo, con el cuerpo fusiforme y la cabeza grande, el hocico alargado y una única narina en la parte superior de la cabeza; la piel es normalmente gris y glabra. Son carnívoros. Se cuentan entre los más inteligentes de los animales, formando complejos sistemas sociales y comunicándose por ultrasonido. Habitan en aguas templadas y tropicales de todo el globo. (Delphinidae) Delfín

Where the eye mixes delfín and delfino

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. delfín runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against delfino's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
delfín
7 ch
delfino

Visual trap between delfín and delfino

A purely visual mix-up. delfín ([d̪elˈfĩn]) and delfino ([delˈfi.no]) 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 59489, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

delfín is recorded at frequency rank #16,551, classified as anoun, pronounced [d̪elˈfĩn]. delfino is at rank #42,938, tagged as anoun, pronounced [delˈfi.no].

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 59489, this pair ranks #62,416 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of delfín vs delfino

Shared letters: defln. Private to "delfín": í. Private to "delfino": io.

"delfín" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "delfino" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • delfino ← ddelfino · deflino · delffino · delfinno · delfion · delfnio · delifno · dellfino

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "delfín" and "delfino" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪elˈfĩn] versus [delˈfi.no]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "delfín" or "delfino" show up more?
"delfín" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,551 in our Spanish list, against #42,938 for "delfino". 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 "delfín" and "delfino" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "delfín" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "delfino" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #62,416 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "delfín" and "delfino" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Delfina vs delfino". 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 #62,416 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