desvelavsdevelarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,314
“desvela” frequency rank
#49,580
“develar” frequency rank
80894
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature desvela develar
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de desvelar. Quitar o descorrer el velo que cubre alguna cosa.

Where the eye mixes desvela and develar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. desvela (CVCCVCV) and develar (CVCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
desvela
7 ch
develar

Visual trap between desvela and develar

A purely visual mix-up. desvela ([d̪esˈβ̞ela]) and develar ([d̪eβ̞eˈlaɾ]) 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 5 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80894, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

desvela is recorded at frequency rank #31,314, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈβ̞ela]. develar is at rank #49,580, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eβ̞eˈlaɾ].

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 80894, this pair ranks #11,099 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of desvela vs develar

Shared letters: adelv. Private to "desvela": s. Private to "develar": r.

"desvela" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "develar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • desvela ← ddesvela · desbela · desevla · dessvela · desveal · desvella · desvlea · desvvela
  • develar ← ddevelar · debelar · deevlar · devealr · develarr · devellar · develra · devlear

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "desvela" and "develar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈβ̞ela] versus [d̪eβ̞eˈlaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "desvela" vs "develar" - which ranks higher?
"desvela" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,314 in our Spanish list, against #49,580 for "develar". 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 "desvela" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "develar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #11,099 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "desvela" and "develar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "denegar 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 #11,099 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