Which to use
“desear” is a verb and “desleal” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,138
- “desear” frequency rank
- #23,024
- “desleal” frequency rank
- 30162
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | desear | desleal |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Querer una cosa con mucho anhelo. | Que no cumple su palabra o su compromiso de fidelidad, lealtad, veracidad y reciprocidad en el trato honesto. |
Where the eye mixes desear and desleal
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. desear runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against desleal's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between desear and desleal
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: desear is [d̪eseˈaɾ] while desleal is [d̪esleˈal]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30162, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
desear is recorded at frequency rank #7,138, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eseˈaɾ]. desleal is at rank #23,024, tagged as anadj, pronounced [d̪esleˈal].
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 30162, this pair ranks #213,366 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of desear vs desleal
Shared letters: ades. Private to "desear": r. Private to "desleal": l.
"desear" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "desleal" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "desear" and "desleal" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "desear" or "desleal" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "desear" and "desleal" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "desear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desleal" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #213,366 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "desear" and "desleal" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desleal vs desleales". 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 #213,366 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.