empanadasvsempinadaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#18,524
“empanadas” frequency rank
#45,288
“empinada” frequency rank
63812
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature empanadas empinada
Definition Forma del femenino plural de empanado, participio de empanar o de empanarse. Forma del femenino de empinado, participio de empinar.

Where the eye mixes empanadas and empinada

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

9 ch
empanadas
8 ch
empinada

Why the eye confuses empanadas with empinada

A purely visual mix-up. empanadas ([ẽmpaˈnað̞as]) and empinada ([ẽmpiˈnað̞a]) 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 63812, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

empanadas is recorded at frequency rank #18,524, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [ẽmpaˈnað̞as]. empinada is at rank #45,288, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [ẽmpiˈnað̞a].

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 63812, this pair ranks #47,522 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of empanadas vs empinada

Shared letters: ademnp. Private to "empanadas": s. Private to "empinada": i.

"empanadas" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC  ·  "empinada" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • empanadas ← emapnadas · emmpanadas · empaandas · empanaads · empanadass · empanaddas · empanadsa · empandaas
  • empinada ← emipnada · emmpinada · empianda · empinaad · empinadda · empindaa · empinnada · empniada

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "empanadas" and "empinada" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ẽmpaˈnað̞as] versus [ẽmpiˈnað̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "empanadas" or "empinada"?
"empanadas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,524 in our Spanish list, against #45,288 for "empinada". 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 "empanadas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "empinada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #47,522 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "empanadas" and "empinada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empinada vs empujada". 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 #47,522 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