deseadavsdesmayaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#16,314
“deseada” frequency rank
#41,856
“desmaya” frequency rank
58170
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deseada desmaya
Definition Forma del femenino de deseado, participio de desear. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de desmayar.

Where the eye mixes deseada and desmaya

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
deseada
7 ch
desmaya

Look-alike desk: deseada vs desmaya

A purely visual mix-up. deseada ([d̪eseˈað̞a]) and desmaya ([d̪esˈmaʝa]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58170, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

deseada is recorded at frequency rank #16,314, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eseˈað̞a]. desmaya is at rank #41,856, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈmaʝa].

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 58170, this pair ranks #67,482 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of deseada vs desmaya

Shared letters: ades. Private to "deseada": -. Private to "desmaya": my.

"deseada" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "desmaya" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deseadaddeseada · deceada · deesada · desaeda · deseaad · deseadda · desedaa · desseada
  • desmayaddesmaya · demsaya · desamya · desmaay · desmayya · desmmaya · desmyaa · dessmaya

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "deseada" and "desmaya" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eseˈað̞a] versus [d̪esˈmaʝa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "deseada" or "desmaya"?
"deseada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,314 in our Spanish list, against #41,856 for "desmaya". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "deseada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "desmaya" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #67,482 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "deseada" and "desmaya" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desmaya vs desmayar". 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 #67,482 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