Which to use
“despegar” and “desvelar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,558
- “despegar” frequency rank
- #36,527
- “desvelar” frequency rank
- 53085
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | despegar | desvelar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Separarse de la superficie, iniciar el vuelo, especialmente un avión. | Quitar o impedir el sueño, no dejar dormir. |
Where the eye mixes despegar and desvelar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between despegar and desvelar
A purely visual mix-up. despegar ([d̪espeˈɣ̞aɾ]) and desvelar ([d̪esβ̞eˈlaɾ]) 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 53085, 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]. desvelar is at rank #36,527, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esβ̞eˈlaɾ].
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 53085, this pair ranks #89,574 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of despegar vs desvelar
Shared letters: aders. Private to "despegar": gp. Private to "desvelar": lv.
"despegar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "desvelar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "despegar" and "desvelar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "despegar" or "desvelar"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "despegar" and "desvelar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "despegar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desvelar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #89,574 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "despegar" and "desvelar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desvelar vs develar". 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 #89,574 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.