Which to use
“despega” and “despejar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,988
- “despega” frequency rank
- #16,815
- “despejar” frequency rank
- 52803
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | despega | despejar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de despegar o de despegarse. | Dejar un lugar vacío, retirar o suprimir obstáculos, problemas o amenazas. |
Where the eye mixes despega and despejar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. despega runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against despejar's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between despega and despejar
A purely visual mix-up. despega ([d̪esˈpeɣ̞a]) and despejar ([d̪espeˈxaɾ]) 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 52803, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
despega is recorded at frequency rank #35,988, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈpeɣ̞a]. despejar is at rank #16,815, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪espeˈxaɾ].
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 52803, this pair ranks #90,909 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of despega vs despejar
Shared letters: adeps. Private to "despega": g. Private to "despejar": jr.
"despega" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "despejar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "despega" and "despejar" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "despega" or "despejar"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "despega" and "despejar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "despega" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "despejar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #90,909 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "despega" and "despejar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "despega vs despeja". 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 #90,909 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.