ilícitavsilícitoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#21,020
“ilícita” frequency rank
#14,866
“ilícito” frequency rank
35886
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ilícita ilícito
Definition Forma del femenino de ilícito. Que está fuera de lo legal, de lo moral o de las reglas establecidas.

Where the eye mixes ilícita and ilícito

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ilícita and ilícito follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
ilícita
7 ch
ilícito

Look-alike desk: ilícita vs ilícito

A purely visual mix-up. ilícita ([iˈlisit̪a]) and ilícito ([iˈlisit̪o]) 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 “ilícita” becomes o in “ilícito”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35886, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ilícita is recorded at frequency rank #21,020, classified as anadj, pronounced [iˈlisit̪a]. ilícito is at rank #14,866, tagged as anadj, pronounced [iˈlisit̪o].

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 35886, this pair ranks #183,629 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ilícita vs ilícito

Shared letters: ciltí. Private to "ilícita": a. Private to "ilícito": o.

"ilícita" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV  ·  "ilícito" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ilícita" and "ilícito" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([iˈlisit̪a] versus [iˈlisit̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ilícita" vs "ilícito" - which ranks higher?
"ilícito" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,866 in our Spanish list, against #21,020 for "ilícita". 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 "ilícita" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ilícito" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #183,629 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ilícita" and "ilícito" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ilícita vs ilícitas". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #183,629 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