idovsikeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,216
“ido” frequency rank
#40,873
“ike” frequency rank
42089
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ido ike
Definition Loco, falto de cordura. Malo.

Where the eye mixes ido and ike

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. ido and ike follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

3 ch
ido
3 ch
ike

Why the eye confuses ido with ike

A purely visual mix-up. ido ([ˈið̞o]) and ike (/ˈɪ.ke/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42089, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ido is recorded at frequency rank #1,216, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈið̞o]. ike is at rank #40,873, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈɪ.ke/.

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 42089, this pair ranks #150,157 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ido vs ike

Shared letters: i. Private to "ido": do. Private to "ike": ek.

"ido" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "ike" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ido" for "ike" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈið̞o] versus /ˈɪ.ke/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ido" vs "ike" - which ranks higher?
"ido" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,216 in our Spanish list, against #40,873 for "ike". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ido" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ike" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #150,157 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ido" and "ike" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ike vs iza". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #150,157 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