delfinesvsdesfilesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,337
“delfines” frequency rank
#17,942
“desfiles” frequency rank
33279
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature delfines desfiles
Definition Forma del plural de delfín. Forma del plural de desfile.

Where the eye mixes delfines and desfiles

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. delfines and desfiles follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
delfines
8 ch
desfiles

Visual trap between delfines and desfiles

A purely visual mix-up. delfines ([d̪elˈfines]) and desfiles ([d̪esˈfiles]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33279, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

delfines is recorded at frequency rank #15,337, classified as anoun, pronounced [d̪elˈfines]. desfiles is at rank #17,942, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪esˈfiles].

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 33279, this pair ranks #197,603 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of delfines vs desfiles

Shared letters: defils. Private to "delfines": n. Private to "desfiles": -.

"delfines" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "desfiles" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • delfines ← ddelfines · deflines · delffines · delfiens · delfiness · delfinnes · delfinse · delfnies
  • desfiles ← ddesfiles · defsiles · desffiles · desfiels · desfiless · desfilles · desfilse · desflies

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "delfines" for "desfiles" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪elˈfines] versus [d̪esˈfiles]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "delfines" or "desfiles"?
"delfines" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,337 in our Spanish list, against #17,942 for "desfiles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "delfines" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "desfiles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #197,603 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "delfines" and "desfiles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desfilan vs desfiles". 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 #197,603 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