miserablevsmiserablesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#7,036
“miserable” frequency rank
#12,005
“miserables” frequency rank
19041
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature miserable miserables
Definition Que está en una condición o situación de pobreza, miseria, carencia o necesidad, especialmente económica. Forma del plural de miserable.

Where the eye mixes miserable and miserables

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

9 ch
miserable
10 ch
miserables

Why the eye confuses miserable with miserables

A purely visual mix-up. miserable ([miseˈɾaβ̞le]) and miserables ([miseˈɾaβ̞les]) 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) - “miserable” sits inside “miserables”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19041, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

miserable is recorded at frequency rank #7,036, classified as anadj, pronounced [miseˈɾaβ̞le]. miserables is at rank #12,005, tagged as anadj, pronounced [miseˈɾaβ̞les].

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 19041, this pair ranks #265,439 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of miserable vs miserables

Shared letters: abeilmrs. Private to "miserable": -. Private to "miserables": -.

"miserable" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCCV  ·  "miserables" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • miserableimserable · micerable · miesrable · misearble · miserabble · miserabel · miserablle · miseralbe
  • miserablesimserables · micerables · miesrables · misearbles · miserabbles · miserabels · miserabless · miserablles

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "miserable" and "miserables" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([miseˈɾaβ̞le] versus [miseˈɾaβ̞les]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "miserable" vs "miserables" - which ranks higher?
"miserable" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,036 in our Spanish list, against #12,005 for "miserables". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "miserable" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "miserables" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #265,439 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "miserable" and "miserables" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "minerales vs miserables". 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 #265,439 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