legítimovslegítimosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,450
“legítimo” frequency rank
#15,139
“legítimos” frequency rank
22589
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature legítimo legítimos
Definition Que se ajusta a la ley. Forma del masculino plural de legítimo.

Where the eye mixes legítimo and legítimos

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

8 ch
legítimo
9 ch
legítimos

Why the eye confuses legítimo with legítimos

A purely visual mix-up. legítimo ([leˈxit̪imo]) and legítimos ([leˈxit̪imos]) 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 extra letter(s) - “legítimo” sits inside “legítimos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22589, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

legítimo is recorded at frequency rank #7,450, classified as anadj, pronounced [leˈxit̪imo]. legítimos is at rank #15,139, tagged as anadj, pronounced [leˈxit̪imos].

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 22589, this pair ranks #249,603 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of legítimo vs legítimos

Shared letters: egilmotí. Private to "legítimo": -. Private to "legítimos": s.

"legítimo" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "legítimos" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "legítimo" and "legítimos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([leˈxit̪imo] versus [leˈxit̪imos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "legítimo" or "legítimos" show up more?
"legítimo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,450 in our Spanish list, against #15,139 for "legítimos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "legítimo" and "legítimos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "legítimo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "legítimos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #249,603 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "legítimo" and "legítimos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "legitimado vs legítimo". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #249,603 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