hambrevshombreWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,112
“hambre” frequency rank
#214
“hombre” frequency rank
1326
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hambre hombre
Definition Necesidad o deseo de alimentarse. Individuo de la especie humana, definido como mamífero primate dotado de inteligencia, que camina en posición vertical, posee manos prensiles y un cerebro voluminoso, y se comunica por medio de un lenguaje articulado.

Where the eye mixes hambre and hombre

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. hambre and hombre 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
hombre

Look-alike desk: hambre vs hombre

A purely visual mix-up. hambre ([ˈãmbɾe]) and hombre ([ˈõmbɾe]) 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 “hambre” becomes o in “hombre”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1326, 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]. hombre is at rank #214, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈõmbɾe].

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 1326, this pair ranks #322,240 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hambre vs hombre

Shared letters: behmr. Private to "hambre": a. Private to "hombre": o.

"hambre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "hombre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hambre ← ahmbre · habmre · hambbre · hamber · hambrre · hammbre · hamrbe · hamvre
  • hombre ← hhombre · hmobre · hobmre · hombbre · homber · hombrre · hommbre · homrbe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hambre" and "hombre" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈãmbɾe] versus [ˈõmbɾe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hambre" or "hombre"?
"hombre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #214 in our Spanish list, against #1,112 for "hambre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hambre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hombre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #322,240 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hambre" and "hombre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hombre vs homme". 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 #322,240 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