Which to use
“deli” is an adjective and “delos” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,566
- “deli” frequency rank
- #33,063
- “delos” frequency rank
- 82629
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deli | delos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Delicioso. | Contracción de la preposición de y el artículo los |
Where the eye mixes deli and delos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. deli runs 4 letters (CVCV) against delos's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses deli with delos
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deli is [ˈd̪eli] while delos is /ˈde.los/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs contraction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82629, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deli is recorded at frequency rank #49,566, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈd̪eli]. delos is at rank #33,063, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /ˈde.los/.
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 82629, this pair ranks #9,031 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of deli vs delos
Shared letters: del. Private to "deli": i. Private to "delos": os.
"deli" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "delos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "deli" and "delos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "deli" or "delos" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "deli" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "delos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #9,031 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deli" and "delos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deli vs Deva". 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 #9,031 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.