desveladovsdesvelarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#43,518
“desvelado” frequency rank
#36,527
“desvelar” frequency rank
80045
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature desvelado desvelar
Definition Participio de desvelar. Quitar o impedir el sueño, no dejar dormir.

Where the eye mixes desvelado and desvelar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. desvelado runs 9 letters (CVCCVCVCV) against desvelar's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
desvelado
8 ch
desvelar

Why the eye confuses desvelado with desvelar

A purely visual mix-up. desvelado ([d̪esβ̞eˈlað̞o]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80045, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

desvelado is recorded at frequency rank #43,518, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esβ̞eˈlað̞o]. 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 80045, this pair ranks #12,185 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of desvelado vs desvelar

Shared letters: adelsv. Private to "desvelado": o. Private to "desvelar": r.

"desvelado" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV  ·  "desvelar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • desvelado ← ddesvelado · desbelado · desevlado · dessvelado · desvealdo · desveladdo · desvelaod · desveldao
  • desvelar ← ddesvelar · desbelar · desevlar · dessvelar · desvealr · desvelarr · desvellar · desvelra

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "desvelado" for "desvelar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esβ̞eˈlað̞o] versus [d̪esβ̞eˈlaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "desvelado" vs "desvelar" - which ranks higher?
"desvelar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,527 in our Spanish list, against #43,518 for "desvelado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "desvelado" 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 #12,185 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "desvelado" and "desvelar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desvelado vs desvelo". 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 #12,185 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