desanimadovsdesánimoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: desanimado is a adjective, desánimo is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“desanimado” is an adjective and “desánimo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,056
“desanimado” frequency rank
#41,861
“desánimo” frequency rank
88917
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature desanimado desánimo
Definition Sin ánimo, coraje, motivación o valentía para hacer o enfrentar algo. Acción o efecto de desanimar o de desanimarse; falta de ánimo, entusiasmo, ganas o voluntad para hacer o enfrentar algo.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set desanimado and desánimo apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
desanimado
8 ch
desánimo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: desanimado is [d̪esaniˈmað̞o] while desánimo is [d̪eˈsanimo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88917, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

desanimado is recorded at frequency rank #47,056, classified as anadj, pronounced [d̪esaniˈmað̞o]. desánimo is at rank #41,861, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪eˈsanimo].

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 88917, this pair ranks #3,467 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of desanimado vs desánimo

Shared letters: deimnos. Private to "desanimado": a. Private to "desánimo": á.

"desanimado" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCV  ·  "desánimo" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • desanimadoddesanimado · deasnimado · desainmado · desaniamdo · desanimaddo · desanimaod · desanimdao · desanimmado

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "desanimado" and "desánimo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "desanimado" is an adjective and "desánimo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "desanimado" or "desánimo"?
"desánimo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,861 in our Spanish list, against #47,056 for "desanimado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list