Which to use
“delgado” and “delicado” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,601
- “delgado” frequency rank
- #8,101
- “delicado” frequency rank
- 13702
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | delgado | delicado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | De poca anchura corporal. | Suave, blando, tierno. |
Where the eye mixes delgado and delicado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. delgado runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against delicado's 8 (CVCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between delgado and delicado
A purely visual mix-up. delgado ([d̪elˈɣ̞að̞o]) and delicado ([d̪eliˈkað̞o]) 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 13702, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
delgado is recorded at frequency rank #5,601, classified as anadj, pronounced [d̪elˈɣ̞að̞o]. delicado is at rank #8,101, tagged as anadj, pronounced [d̪eliˈkað̞o].
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 13702, this pair ranks #286,849 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of delgado vs delicado
Shared letters: adelo. Private to "delgado": g. Private to "delicado": ci.
"delgado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "delicado" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "delgado" and "delicado" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "delgado" or "delicado" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "delgado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "delicado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #286,849 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "delgado" and "delicado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "delicado vs delirando". 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 #286,849 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.