despejarvsdespojarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,815
“despejar” frequency rank
#49,576
“despojar” frequency rank
66391
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature despejar despojar
Definition Dejar un lugar vacío, retirar o suprimir obstáculos, problemas o amenazas. Privar a uno de lo que goza y tiene; desposeerle de ello con violencia.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set despejar and despojar apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
despejar
8 ch
despojar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. despejar ([d̪espeˈxaɾ]) and despojar ([d̪espoˈxaɾ]) 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 - e in “despejar” becomes o in “despojar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66391, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

despejar is recorded at frequency rank #16,815, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪espeˈxaɾ]. despojar is at rank #49,576, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪espoˈxaɾ].

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 66391, this pair ranks #40,007 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of despejar vs despojar

Shared letters: adejprs. Private to "despejar": -. Private to "despojar": o.

"despejar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "despojar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • despejarddespejar · depsejar · desepjar · despeajr · despejarr · despejjar · despejra · despjear
  • despojarddespojar · depsojar · desopjar · despjoar · despoajr · despojarr · despojjar · despojra

Frequency comparison

despejar#16,815
despojar#49,576

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "despejar" and "despojar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪espeˈxaɾ] versus [d̪espoˈxaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "despejar" or "despojar"?
"despejar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,815 in our Spanish list, against #49,576 for "despojar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering despejar vs despojar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “despejar” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list