hamacavshampaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#29,678
“hamaca” frequency rank
#34,603
“hampa” frequency rank
64281
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hamaca hampa
Definition Mueble formado por una red o tela de forma oblonga suspendida por sus extremos de árboles o postes, de tal modo de permitir a una o más personas acostarse en ella. Gente maleante, que se dedica a negocios ilícitos; tipo de vida que practica.

Where the eye mixes hamaca and hampa

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

6 ch
hamaca
5 ch
hampa

Why the eye confuses hamaca with hampa

A purely visual mix-up. hamaca ([aˈmaka]) and hampa ([ˈãmpa]) 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 64281, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hamaca is recorded at frequency rank #29,678, classified as anoun, pronounced [aˈmaka]. hampa is at rank #34,603, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈãmpa].

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 64281, this pair ranks #46,068 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hamaca vs hampa

Shared letters: ahm. Private to "hamaca": c. Private to "hampa": p.

"hamaca" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "hampa" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hamaca ← ahmaca · haamca · hamaac · hamacca · hamcaa · hammaca · hhamaca · hmaaca
  • hampa ← ahmpa · hamap · hammpa · hamppa · hapma · hhampa · hmapa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hamaca" and "hampa" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈmaka] versus [ˈãmpa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "hamaca" or "hampa" show up more?
"hamaca" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,678 in our Spanish list, against #34,603 for "hampa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "hamaca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hampa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #46,068 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hamaca" and "hampa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Haifa vs hampa". 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 #46,068 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