maridosvsmariposaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#15,154
“maridos” frequency rank
#9,495
“mariposa” frequency rank
24649
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maridos mariposa
Definition Forma del plural de marido. (Orden Lepidoptera) Cualquiera de muchos millares de especies de insectos lepidópteros, característicos en su forma adulta (imago) por poseer alas de gran tamaño en relación al cuerpo y con frecuencia de vistoso colorido. Son holometabólicos, atravesando una etapa de larva (oruga) áptera tras la eclosión del huevo, una fase de crisálida intermedia, y finalmente la imago; pese a la extendida creencia en la brevedad de su vida, su ciclo vital depende de la especie, variando entre pocas horas y un año, más aún considerando los períodos de dormancia de la pupa. Los adultos se alimentan primariamente libando néctar floral. La distinción entre mariposas y polillas se basa en la apariencia, y no en criterios taxonómicos, que las consideran partes de un mismo grupo.

Where the eye mixes maridos and mariposa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
maridos
8 ch
mariposa

Look-alike desk: maridos vs mariposa

A purely visual mix-up. maridos ([maˈɾið̞os]) and mariposa ([maɾiˈposa]) 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 24649, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maridos is recorded at frequency rank #15,154, classified as anoun, pronounced [maˈɾið̞os]. mariposa is at rank #9,495, tagged as anoun, pronounced [maɾiˈposa].

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 24649, this pair ranks #240,166 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of maridos vs mariposa

Shared letters: aimors. Private to "maridos": d. Private to "mariposa": p.

"maridos" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "mariposa" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maridosamridos · mairdos · mardios · mariddos · maridoss · maridso · mariods · marridos
  • mariposaamriposa · mairposa · mariopsa · maripoas · maripossa · maripposa · maripsoa · marpiosa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "maridos" for "mariposa" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([maˈɾið̞os] versus [maɾiˈposa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "maridos" vs "mariposa" - which ranks higher?
"mariposa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,495 in our Spanish list, against #15,154 for "maridos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "maridos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mariposa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #240,166 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "maridos" and "mariposa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "macizos vs maridos". 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 #240,166 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