Which to use
“despegar” and “despeja” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,558
- “despegar” frequency rank
- #40,763
- “despeja” frequency rank
- 57321
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | despegar | despeja |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Separarse de la superficie, iniciar el vuelo, especialmente un avión. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de despejar. |
Where the eye mixes despegar and despeja
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. despegar runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against despeja's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses despegar with despeja
A purely visual mix-up. despegar ([d̪espeˈɣ̞aɾ]) and despeja ([d̪esˈpexa]) 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 57321, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
despegar is recorded at frequency rank #16,558, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪espeˈɣ̞aɾ]. despeja is at rank #40,763, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈpexa].
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 57321, this pair ranks #70,962 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of despegar vs despeja
Shared letters: adeps. Private to "despegar": gr. Private to "despeja": j.
"despegar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "despeja" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "despegar" and "despeja" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "despegar" or "despeja"?
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 "despegar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "despeja" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #70,962 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "despegar" and "despeja" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "despeja 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 #70,962 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.