desmayadovsdestacadoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#42,391
“desmayado” frequency rank
#4,236
“destacado” frequency rank
46627
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature desmayado destacado
Definition Participio de desmayar. Participio de destacar.

Where the eye mixes desmayado and destacado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. desmayado (CVCCVVVCV) and destacado (CVCCVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
desmayado
9 ch
destacado

Why the eye confuses desmayado with destacado

A purely visual mix-up. desmayado ([d̪esmaˈʝað̞o]) and destacado ([d̪est̪aˈkað̞o]) 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 46627, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

desmayado is recorded at frequency rank #42,391, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esmaˈʝað̞o]. destacado is at rank #4,236, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪est̪aˈkað̞o].

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 46627, this pair ranks #124,661 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of desmayado vs destacado

Shared letters: adeos. Private to "desmayado": my. Private to "destacado": ct.

"desmayado" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVVCV  ·  "destacado" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • desmayado ← ddesmayado · demsayado · desamyado · desmaaydo · desmayaddo · desmayaod · desmaydao · desmayyado
  • destacado ← ddestacado · desatcado · desstacado · destaacdo · destacaddo · destacaod · destaccado · destacdao

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "desmayado" and "destacado" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esmaˈʝað̞o] versus [d̪est̪aˈkað̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "desmayado" vs "destacado" - which ranks higher?
"destacado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,236 in our Spanish list, against #42,391 for "desmayado". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "desmayado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "destacado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #124,661 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "desmayado" and "destacado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desmayado 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 #124,661 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