impecablevsimpensableWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,835
“impecable” frequency rank
#20,711
“impensable” frequency rank
33546
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature impecable impensable
Definition Muy limpio, sin mancha alguna, ordenado, completamente libre de impurezas o suciedades. Que no se puede pensar racionalmente, concebir o aceptar; que va contra el sentido común.

Where the eye mixes impecable and impensable

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

9 ch
impecable
10 ch
impensable

Look-alike desk: impecable vs impensable

A purely visual mix-up. impecable ([ĩmpeˈkaβ̞le]) and impensable ([ĩmpẽnˈsaβ̞le]) 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 33546, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

impecable is recorded at frequency rank #12,835, classified as anadj, pronounced [ĩmpeˈkaβ̞le]. impensable is at rank #20,711, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ĩmpẽnˈsaβ̞le].

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 33546, this pair ranks #196,236 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of impecable vs impensable

Shared letters: abeilmp. Private to "impecable": c. Private to "impensable": ns.

"impecable" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCCV  ·  "impensable" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • impecableimepcable · immpecable · impceable · impeacble · impecabble · impecabel · impecablle · impecalbe
  • impensableimepnsable · immpensable · impenasble · impennsable · impensabble · impensabel · impensablle · impensalbe

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "impecable" and "impensable" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ĩmpeˈkaβ̞le] versus [ĩmpẽnˈsaβ̞le]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "impecable" or "impensable" show up more?
"impecable" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,835 in our Spanish list, against #20,711 for "impensable". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "impecable" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "impensable" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #196,236 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "impecable" and "impensable" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "impagable vs impecable". Nearby pair
  • 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 #196,236 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