heridovsheroicoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,014
“herido” frequency rank
#17,986
“heroico” frequency rank
22000
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature herido heroico
Definition Que ha sufrido un daño físico como una herida, desgarro, contusión u otra lesión. Se dice de personas, hechos y actitudes de valentía, virtud o capacidad sobresaliente para enfrentar el peligro o la adversidad en bien de otros. Que pertenece o concierne al heroísmo.

Where the eye mixes herido and heroico

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. herido runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against heroico's 7 (CVCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
herido
7 ch
heroico

Visual trap between herido and heroico

A purely visual mix-up. herido ([eˈɾið̞o]) and heroico ([eˈɾojko]) 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 22000, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

herido is recorded at frequency rank #4,014, classified as anadj, pronounced [eˈɾið̞o]. heroico is at rank #17,986, tagged as anadj, pronounced [eˈɾojko].

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 22000, this pair ranks #252,387 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of herido vs heroico

Shared letters: ehior. Private to "herido": d. Private to "heroico": c.

"herido" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "heroico" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • herido ← ehrido · heirdo · herdio · heriddo · heriod · herrido · hherido · hreido
  • heroico ← ehroico · heorico · herioco · herocio · heroicco · heroioc · herroico · hheroico

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "herido" and "heroico" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([eˈɾið̞o] versus [eˈɾojko]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "herido" or "heroico" show up more?
"herido" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,014 in our Spanish list, against #17,986 for "heroico". 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 "herido" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "heroico" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #252,387 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "herido" and "heroico" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heroico vs hervido". 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 #252,387 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