irevsirisConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#21,373
“ire” frequency rank
#7,867
“iris” frequency rank
29240
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ire iris
Definition Ira. Arco que muestra el rango completo de colores del espectro visible, producido por la difracción de la luz solar en la humedad de la atmósfera

Where the eye mixes ire and iris

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
ire
4 ch
iris

Look-alike desk: ire vs iris

A purely visual mix-up. ire ([aɪəʳ]) and iris ([ˈiɾis]) 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 29240, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ire is recorded at frequency rank #21,373, classified as anoun, pronounced [aɪəʳ]. iris is at rank #7,867, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈiɾis].

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 29240, this pair ranks #218,000 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ire vs iris

Shared letters: ir. Private to "ire": e. Private to "iris": s.

"ire" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "iris" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • irisiirs · iriss · irris · irsi · riis

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ire" and "iris" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aɪəʳ] versus [ˈiɾis]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ire" vs "iris" - which ranks higher?
"iris" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,867 in our Spanish list, against #21,373 for "ire". 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 "ire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "iris" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #218,000 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ire" and "iris" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ire vs iza". 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 #218,000 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