descuidavsdestruidaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#26,802
“descuida” frequency rank
#11,023
“destruida” frequency rank
37825
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature descuida destruida
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de descuidar. Forma del femenino de destruido, participio de destruir o de destruirse.

Where the eye mixes descuida and destruida

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. descuida runs 8 letters (CVCCVVCV) against destruida's 9 (CVCCCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
descuida
9 ch
destruida

Look-alike desk: descuida vs destruida

A purely visual mix-up. descuida ([d̪esˈkwið̞a]) and destruida ([d̪esˈt̪ɾwið̞a]) 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 37825, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

descuida is recorded at frequency rank #26,802, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈkwið̞a]. destruida is at rank #11,023, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈt̪ɾwið̞a].

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 37825, this pair ranks #173,266 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of descuida vs destruida

Shared letters: adeisu. Private to "descuida": c. Private to "destruida": rt.

"descuida" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV  ·  "destruida" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • descuida ← ddescuida · decsuida · desccuida · desciuda · descudia · descuiad · descuidda · desscuida
  • destruida ← ddestruida · desrtuida · desstruida · destriuda · destrruida · destrudia · destruiad · destruidda

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "descuida" and "destruida" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈkwið̞a] versus [d̪esˈt̪ɾwið̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "descuida" or "destruida" show up more?
"destruida" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,023 in our Spanish list, against #26,802 for "descuida". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "descuida" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "destruida" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #173,266 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "descuida" and "destruida" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "describa vs descuida". 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 #173,266 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