despechovsdesprecioTell them apart

Which to use

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

#31,743
“despecho” frequency rank
#7,547
“desprecio” frequency rank
39290
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature despecho desprecio
Definition Resentimiento o animadversión que surge tras una decepción en asuntos sentimentales o por heridas al orgullo propio. Acto de considerar inferior o desvalorizar, incluso llegando al rechazo, algo o a alguien.

Where the eye mixes despecho and desprecio

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

8 ch
despecho
9 ch
desprecio

Look-alike desk: despecho vs desprecio

A purely visual mix-up. despecho ([d̪esˈpet͡ʃo]) and desprecio ([d̪esˈpɾesjo]) 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 39290, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

despecho is recorded at frequency rank #31,743, classified as anoun, pronounced [d̪esˈpet͡ʃo]. desprecio is at rank #7,547, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪esˈpɾesjo].

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 39290, this pair ranks #165,388 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of despecho vs desprecio

Shared letters: cdeops. Private to "despecho": h. Private to "desprecio": ir.

"despecho" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "desprecio" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • despecho ← ddespecho · depsecho · desepcho · despceho · despeccho · despechho · despecoh · despehco
  • desprecio ← ddesprecio · depsrecio · despercio · despprecio · desprceio · despreccio · desprecoi · despreico

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "despecho" for "desprecio" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈpet͡ʃo] versus [d̪esˈpɾesjo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "despecho" or "desprecio"?
"desprecio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,547 in our Spanish list, against #31,743 for "despecho". 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 "despecho" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "desprecio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #165,388 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "despecho" and "desprecio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deshechos vs despecho". 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 #165,388 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