Which to use
“duela” and “duelo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,414
- “duela” frequency rank
- #4,885
- “duelo” frequency rank
- 22299
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | duela | duelo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cada una de las tablas generalmente encorvadas, de que se componen las pipas, cubas, barriles, toneles, etc. | Combate entre dos personas que ha sido previamente acordado entre los participantes, generalmente a consecuencia de una ofensa previa de uno de los contendientes. |
Where the eye mixes duela and duelo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses duela with duelo
A purely visual mix-up. duela ([ˈd̪wela]) and duelo ([ˈd̪welo]) 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 a single letter - a in “duela” becomes o in “duelo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22299, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
duela is recorded at frequency rank #17,414, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪wela]. duelo is at rank #4,885, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪welo].
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 22299, this pair ranks #250,991 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of duela vs duelo
Shared letters: delu. Private to "duela": a. Private to "duelo": o.
"duela" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "duelo" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "duela" for "duelo" ever safe?
Which is more common, "duela" or "duelo"?
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 "duela" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "duelo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #250,991 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "duela" and "duelo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Deva vs duela". 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 #250,991 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.