Which to use
“despedir” and “despegar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,313
- “despedir” frequency rank
- #16,558
- “despegar” frequency rank
- 26871
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | despedir | despegar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Acompañar o decir adiós a alguien que se marcha. | Separarse de la superficie, iniciar el vuelo, especialmente un avión. |
Where the eye mixes despedir and despegar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. despedir and despegar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: despedir vs despegar
A purely visual mix-up. despedir ([d̪espeˈð̞iɾ]) and despegar ([d̪espeˈɣ̞aɾ]) 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 26871, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
despedir is recorded at frequency rank #10,313, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪espeˈð̞iɾ]. despegar is at rank #16,558, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪espeˈɣ̞aɾ].
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 26871, this pair ranks #229,550 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of despedir vs despegar
Shared letters: deprs. Private to "despedir": i. Private to "despegar": ag.
"despedir" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "despegar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "despedir" and "despegar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "despedir" or "despegar"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "despedir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "despegar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #229,550 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "despedir" and "despegar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "despegar vs despojar". 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 #229,550 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.