machosvsmechónConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#9,677
“machos” frequency rank
#36,673
“mechón” frequency rank
46350
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature machos mechón
Definition Forma del plural de macho. Mecha grande.

Where the eye mixes machos and mechón

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. machos and mechón follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
machos
6 ch
mechón

Why the eye confuses machos with mechón

A purely visual mix-up. machos ([ˈmat͡ʃos]) and mechón ([meˈt͡ʃõn]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46350, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

machos is recorded at frequency rank #9,677, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmat͡ʃos]. mechón is at rank #36,673, tagged as anoun, pronounced [meˈt͡ʃõn].

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 46350, this pair ranks #126,237 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of machos vs mechón

Shared letters: chm. Private to "machos": aos. Private to "mechón": enó.

"machos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "mechón" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • machos ← amchos · macchos · machhos · machoss · machso · macohs · mahcos · mcahos

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "machos" for "mechón" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmat͡ʃos] versus [meˈt͡ʃõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "machos" or "mechón"?
"machos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,677 in our Spanish list, against #36,673 for "mechón". 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 "machos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mechón" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #126,237 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "machos" and "mechón" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mechón vs mechones". 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 #126,237 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