despreciavsdesprecianConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#23,026
“desprecia” frequency rank
#34,057
“desprecian” frequency rank
57083
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature desprecia desprecian
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de despreciar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de despreciar.

Where the eye mixes desprecia and desprecian

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. desprecia runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCVV) against desprecian's 10 (CVCCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
desprecia
10 ch
desprecian

Visual trap between desprecia and desprecian

A purely visual mix-up. desprecia ([d̪esˈpɾesja]) and desprecian ([d̪esˈpɾesjãn]) 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 extra letter(s) - “desprecia” sits inside “desprecian”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57083, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

desprecia is recorded at frequency rank #23,026, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈpɾesja]. desprecian is at rank #34,057, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈpɾesjãn].

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 57083, this pair ranks #71,928 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of desprecia vs desprecian

Shared letters: acdeiprs. Private to "desprecia": -. Private to "desprecian": n.

"desprecia" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVV  ·  "desprecian" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • despreciaddesprecia · depsrecia · despercia · despprecia · desprceia · desprecai · despreccia · despreica
  • desprecianddesprecian · depsrecian · despercian · despprecian · desprceian · desprecain · despreccian · despreciann

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "desprecia" for "desprecian" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈpɾesja] versus [d̪esˈpɾesjãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "desprecia" or "desprecian"?
"desprecia" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,026 in our Spanish list, against #34,057 for "desprecian". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "desprecia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "desprecian" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #71,928 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "desprecia" and "desprecian" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "despreciado vs desprecian". 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 #71,928 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