Which to use
“desgastado” and “devastado” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,157
- “desgastado” frequency rank
- #31,315
- “devastado” frequency rank
- 70472
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | desgastado | devastado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participio de desgastar. | Participio de devastar (dejar en ruinas, asolar, arrasar). |
Where the eye mixes desgastado and devastado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. desgastado runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVCV) against devastado's 9 (CVCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between desgastado and devastado
A purely visual mix-up. desgastado ([d̪esɣ̞asˈt̪að̞o]) and devastado ([d̪eβ̞asˈt̪að̞o]) 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 70472, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
desgastado is recorded at frequency rank #39,157, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esɣ̞asˈt̪að̞o]. devastado is at rank #31,315, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eβ̞asˈt̪að̞o].
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 70472, this pair ranks #29,629 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of desgastado vs devastado
Shared letters: adeost. Private to "desgastado": g. Private to "devastado": v.
"desgastado" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV · "devastado" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- desgastado ← ddesgastado · degsastado · desagstado · desgasatdo · desgasstado · desgastaddo · desgastaod · desgastdao
- devastado ← ddevastado · deavstado · debastado · devasatdo · devasstado · devastaddo · devastaod · devastdao
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "desgastado" and "devastado" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "desgastado" or "devastado"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "desgastado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devastado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #29,629 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "desgastado" and "devastado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desgarrado vs desgastado". 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 #29,629 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.