despeguevsdespejeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“despegue” and “despeje” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#15,345
“despegue” frequency rank
#40,248
“despeje” frequency rank
55593
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature despegue despeje
Definition Acción o efecto de despegar. Acción o efecto de despejar o despejarse (desocupar, abrir espacio).

Where the eye mixes despegue and despeje

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. despegue runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVV) against despeje's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
despegue
7 ch
despeje

Look-alike desk: despegue vs despeje

A purely visual mix-up. despegue ([d̪esˈpeɣ̞e]) and despeje ([d̪esˈpexe]) 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 55593, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

despegue is recorded at frequency rank #15,345, classified as anoun, pronounced [d̪esˈpeɣ̞e]. despeje is at rank #40,248, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪esˈpexe].

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 55593, this pair ranks #78,208 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of despegue vs despeje

Shared letters: deps. Private to "despegue": gu. Private to "despeje": j.

"despegue" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV  ·  "despeje" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • despegueddespegue · depsegue · desepgue · despegeu · despeggue · despeuge · despgeue · desppegue
  • despejeddespeje · depseje · desepje · despeej · despejje · despjee · desppeje · desspeje

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "despegue" and "despeje" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈpeɣ̞e] versus [d̪esˈpexe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "despegue" or "despeje"?
"despegue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,345 in our Spanish list, against #40,248 for "despeje". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "despegue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "despeje" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #78,208 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "despegue" and "despeje" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "despeja vs despeje". 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 #78,208 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list