ilícitasvsilícitoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#29,253
“ilícitas” frequency rank
#14,866
“ilícito” frequency rank
44119
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes ilícitas and ilícito

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ilícitas runs 8 letters (VCVCVCVC) against ilícito's 7 (VCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
ilícitas
7 ch
ilícito

Look-alike desk: ilícitas vs ilícito

A purely visual mix-up. ilícitas ([iˈlisit̪as]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44119, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ilícitas is recorded at frequency rank #29,253, classified as anadj, pronounced [iˈlisit̪as]. 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 44119, this pair ranks #138,812 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ilícitas vs ilícito

Shared letters: ciltí. Private to "ilícitas": as. Private to "ilícito": o.

"ilícitas" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCVC  ·  "ilícito" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ilícitas" for "ilícito" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([iˈlisit̪as] versus [iˈlisit̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ilícitas" or "ilícito" show up more?
"ilícito" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,866 in our Spanish list, against #29,253 for "ilícitas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ilícitas" 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 #138,812 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ilícitas" and "ilícito" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ilícitas vs ilícitos". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #138,812 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