Which to use
“despegar” and “despejar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,558
- “despegar” frequency rank
- #16,815
- “despejar” frequency rank
- 33373
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | despegar | despejar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Separarse de la superficie, iniciar el vuelo, especialmente un avión. | Dejar un lugar vacío, retirar o suprimir obstáculos, problemas o amenazas. |
Where the eye mixes despegar and despejar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses despegar with despejar
A purely visual mix-up. despegar ([d̪espeˈɣ̞aɾ]) 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 a single letter - g in “despegar” becomes j in “despejar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33373, 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]. 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 33373, this pair ranks #197,133 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of despegar vs despejar
Shared letters: adeprs. Private to "despegar": g. Private to "despejar": j.
"despegar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "despejar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "despegar" for "despejar" ever safe?
Frequency check: "despegar" vs "despejar" - which ranks higher?
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 "despegar" 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 #197,133 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "despegar" and "despejar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "despejar 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 #197,133 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.