hambrevshembraConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,112
“hambre” frequency rank
#8,967
“hembra” frequency rank
10079
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hambre hembra
Definition Necesidad o deseo de alimentarse. En las especies de seres vivos que poseen diferenciación sexual, aquél individuo que produce los huevos, es decir, los gametos de mayor tamaño. En algunas especies animales, es también la que aloja ambos gametos durante la fertilización y, en los vivíparos, durante la preñez.

Where the eye mixes hambre and hembra

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. hambre and hembra follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
hambre
6 ch
hembra

Why the eye confuses hambre with hembra

A purely visual mix-up. hambre ([ˈãmbɾe]) and hembra ([ˈẽmbɾa]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10079, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hambre is recorded at frequency rank #1,112, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈãmbɾe]. hembra is at rank #8,967, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈẽmbɾa].

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 10079, this pair ranks #299,890 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hambre vs hembra

Shared letters: abehmr. Private to "hambre": -. Private to "hembra": -.

"hambre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "hembra" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hambre ← ahmbre · habmre · hambbre · hamber · hambrre · hammbre · hamrbe · hamvre
  • hembra ← ehmbra · hebmra · hembar · hembbra · hembrra · hemmbra · hemrba · hemvra

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hambre" for "hembra" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈãmbɾe] versus [ˈẽmbɾa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hambre" or "hembra"?
"hambre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,112 in our Spanish list, against #8,967 for "hembra". 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 "hambre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hembra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #299,890 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hambre" and "hembra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hebras vs hembra". 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 #299,890 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