ilovsiraWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#43,641
“ilo” frequency rank
#3,854
“ira” frequency rank
47495
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ilo ira
Definition Herramienta Enfado o enojo.

Where the eye mixes ilo and ira

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
ilo
3 ch
ira

Look-alike desk: ilo vs ira

A purely visual mix-up. ilo (/ˈilo/) and ira ([ˈiɾa]) 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 47495, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ilo is recorded at frequency rank #43,641, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈilo/. ira is at rank #3,854, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈiɾa].

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 47495, this pair ranks #119,725 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ilo vs ira

Shared letters: i. Private to "ilo": lo. Private to "ira": ar.

"ilo" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "ira" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ilo" for "ira" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈilo/ versus [ˈiɾa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ilo" vs "ira" - which ranks higher?
"ira" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,854 in our Spanish list, against #43,641 for "ilo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "ilo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ira" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #119,725 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ilo" and "ira" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ilo vs iza". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #119,725 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