neónvsnoxTell them apart

Which to use

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

#31,461
“neón” frequency rank
#49,823
“nox” frequency rank
81284
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature neón nox
Definition El neón es un elemento químico de número atómico 10 y símbolo Ne. Es un gas noble, incoloro, prácticamente inerte, presente en trazas en el aire, pero muy abundante en el universo, que proporciona un tono azulado característico a la luz de las llamas de los fogones en las que se emplea. Noche.

Where the eye mixes neón and nox

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. neón runs 4 letters (CVVC) against nox's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
neón
3 ch
nox

Look-alike desk: neón vs nox

A purely visual mix-up. neón ([neˈõn]) and nox (/ˈnoks/) 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 81284, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

neón is recorded at frequency rank #31,461, classified as anoun, pronounced [neˈõn]. nox is at rank #49,823, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈnoks/.

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 81284, this pair ranks #10,596 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of neón vs nox

Shared letters: n. Private to "neón": eó. Private to "nox": ox.

"neón" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "nox" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "neón" and "nox" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([neˈõn] versus /ˈnoks/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "neón" or "nox"?
"neón" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,461 in our Spanish list, against #49,823 for "nox". 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 "neón" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nox" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #10,596 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "neón" and "nox" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nox vs nui". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #10,596 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