Which to use
“despejar” and “desvelar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,815
- “despejar” frequency rank
- #36,527
- “desvelar” frequency rank
- 53342
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | despejar | desvelar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dejar un lugar vacío, retirar o suprimir obstáculos, problemas o amenazas. | Quitar o impedir el sueño, no dejar dormir. |
Where the eye mixes despejar and desvelar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. despejar and desvelar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses despejar with desvelar
A purely visual mix-up. despejar ([d̪espeˈxaɾ]) 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 53342, 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]. 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 53342, this pair ranks #88,367 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of despejar vs desvelar
Shared letters: aders. Private to "despejar": jp. Private to "desvelar": lv.
"despejar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "desvelar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "despejar" for "desvelar" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "despejar" or "desvelar" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "despejar" and "desvelar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "despejar" 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 #88,367 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "despejar" 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 #88,367 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.