indecentevsindigenteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#20,082
“indecente” frequency rank
#27,646
“indigente” frequency rank
47728
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature indecente indigente
Definition Falto de decencia y de recato. Falto de medios para pasar la vida.

Where the eye mixes indecente and indigente

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. indecente and indigente follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
indecente
9 ch
indigente

Why the eye confuses indecente with indigente

A purely visual mix-up. indecente ([ĩn̪d̪eˈsẽn̪t̪e]) and indigente ([ĩn̪d̪iˈxẽn̪t̪e]) 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 47728, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

indecente is recorded at frequency rank #20,082, classified as anadj, pronounced [ĩn̪d̪eˈsẽn̪t̪e]. indigente is at rank #27,646, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ĩn̪d̪iˈxẽn̪t̪e].

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 47728, this pair ranks #118,458 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of indecente vs indigente

Shared letters: deint. Private to "indecente": c. Private to "indigente": g.

"indecente" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCCV  ·  "indigente" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • indecente ← idnecente · indceente · inddecente · indeccente · indecenet · indecennte · indecentte · indecetne
  • indigente ← idnigente · inddigente · indgiente · indiegnte · indigenet · indigennte · indigentte · indigetne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "indecente" and "indigente" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ĩn̪d̪eˈsẽn̪t̪e] versus [ĩn̪d̪iˈxẽn̪t̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "indecente" vs "indigente" - which ranks higher?
"indecente" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,082 in our Spanish list, against #27,646 for "indigente". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "indecente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "indigente" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #118,458 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "indecente" and "indigente" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "indigente vs indulgente". 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 #118,458 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