dudosovsdurosWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#16,828
“dudoso” frequency rank
#5,716
“duros” frequency rank
22544
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dudoso duros
Definition Que tiene o ofrece duda. Forma del masculino plural de duro.

Where the eye mixes dudoso and duros

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. dudoso runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against duros's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
dudoso
5 ch
duros

Visual trap between dudoso and duros

A purely visual mix-up. dudoso ([d̪uˈð̞oso]) and duros ([ˈd̪uɾos]) 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 22544, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dudoso is recorded at frequency rank #16,828, classified as anadj, pronounced [d̪uˈð̞oso]. duros is at rank #5,716, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈd̪uɾos].

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 22544, this pair ranks #249,831 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dudoso vs duros

Shared letters: dosu. Private to "dudoso": -. Private to "duros": r.

"dudoso" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "duros" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dudoso ← ddudoso · dduoso · duddoso · dudoos · dudosso · dudsoo · duodso · uddoso
  • duros ← dduros · druos · duors · duross · durros · durso · udros

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dudoso" and "duros" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪uˈð̞oso] versus [ˈd̪uɾos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dudoso" vs "duros" - which ranks higher?
"duros" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,716 in our Spanish list, against #16,828 for "dudoso". 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 "dudoso" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "duros" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #249,831 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dudoso" and "duros" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dudosas vs dudoso". 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 #249,831 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