horriblevshorriblesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,666
“horrible” frequency rank
#8,970
“horribles” frequency rank
11636
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature horrible horribles
Definition Que provoca o tiende a provocar horror. Forma del plural de horrible.

Where the eye mixes horrible and horribles

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. horrible runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against horribles's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
horrible
9 ch
horribles

Look-alike desk: horrible vs horribles

A purely visual mix-up. horrible ([oˈriβ̞le]) and horribles ([oˈriβ̞les]) 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 extra letter(s) - “horrible” sits inside “horribles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11636, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

horrible is recorded at frequency rank #2,666, classified as anadj, pronounced [oˈriβ̞le]. horribles is at rank #8,970, tagged as anadj, pronounced [oˈriβ̞les].

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 11636, this pair ranks #294,389 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of horrible vs horribles

Shared letters: behilor. Private to "horrible": -. Private to "horribles": s.

"horrible" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "horribles" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • horrible ← hhorrible · horible · horirble · horrbile · horribble · horribel · horriblle · horrilbe
  • horribles ← hhorribles · horibles · horirbles · horrbiles · horribbles · horribels · horribless · horriblles

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "horrible" and "horribles" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([oˈriβ̞le] versus [oˈriβ̞les]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "horrible" or "horribles"?
"horrible" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,666 in our Spanish list, against #8,970 for "horribles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "horrible" and "horribles" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "horrible" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "horribles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #294,389 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • 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 #294,389 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