Which to use
“delicados” is an adjective and “derivados” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,940
- “delicados” frequency rank
- #6,651
- “derivados” frequency rank
- 24591
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | delicados | derivados |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del masculino plural de delicado. | Forma del plural de derivado, participio de derivar o de derivarse. |
Where the eye mixes delicados and derivados
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. delicados and derivados follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: delicados vs derivados
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: delicados is [d̪eliˈkað̞os] while derivados is [d̪eɾiˈβ̞að̞os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24591, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
delicados is recorded at frequency rank #17,940, classified as anadj, pronounced [d̪eliˈkað̞os]. derivados is at rank #6,651, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪eɾiˈβ̞að̞os].
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 24591, this pair ranks #240,440 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of delicados vs derivados
Shared letters: adeios. Private to "delicados": cl. Private to "derivados": rv.
"delicados" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC · "derivados" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "delicados" for "derivados" ever safe?
Which is more common, "delicados" or "derivados"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "delicados" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "derivados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #240,440 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "delicados" and "derivados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "derivados vs derribados". 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 #240,440 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.