Which to use
“hilo” and “ilo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,789
- “hilo” frequency rank
- #43,641
- “ilo” frequency rank
- 47430
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hilo | ilo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fibra textil delgada, formada por pocas hebras, de largo variable. | Herramienta |
Same sound, different letters: hilo vs ilo
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters. hilo runs 4 letters (CVCV) against ilo's 3 (VCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - hilo and ilo
This is the hard kind. hilo and ilo are pronounced identically ([ˈilo]) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “ilo” sits inside “hilo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47430, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hilo is recorded at frequency rank #3,789, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈilo]. ilo is at rank #43,641, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈilo/.
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 47430, this pair ranks #120,108 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hilo vs ilo
Shared letters: ilo. Private to "hilo": h. Private to "ilo": -.
"hilo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "ilo" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- hilo ← hhilo · hillo · hiol · hlio · ihlo
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hilo" for "ilo" ever safe?
Which is more common, "hilo" or "ilo"?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "hilo" / "ilo". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "hilo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ilo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #120,108 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hilo" and "ilo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ilo vs iza". 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 #120,108 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.