malosvsmuslosWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: malos is a adjective, muslos is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“malos” is an adjective and “muslos” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,121
“malos” frequency rank
#18,910
“muslos” frequency rank
21031
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature malos muslos
Definition Forma del masculino plural de malo o mal. Forma del plural de muslo.

Where the eye mixes malos and muslos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. malos runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against muslos's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
malos
6 ch
muslos

Visual trap between malos and muslos

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: malos is [ˈmalos] while muslos is [ˈmuslos]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

malos is recorded at frequency rank #2,121, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈmalos]. muslos is at rank #18,910, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmuslos].

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 21031, this pair ranks #256,710 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of malos vs muslos

Shared letters: lmos. Private to "malos": a. Private to "muslos": u.

"malos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "muslos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • malos ← amlos · mallos · maloss · malso · maols · mlaos · mmalos
  • muslos ← mmuslos · msulos · mulsos · musllos · musloss · muslso · musols · musslos

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "malos" and "muslos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "malos" is an adjective and "muslos" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "malos" or "muslos"?
"malos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,121 in our Spanish list, against #18,910 for "muslos". 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 "malos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "muslos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #256,710 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "malos" and "muslos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mudos vs muslos". 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 #256,710 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