obesovsobvioWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#33,251
“obeso” frequency rank
#2,462
“obvio” frequency rank
35713
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obeso obvio
Definition Dícese de la persona que tiene gordura en demasía. Que es claro, comprensible y no amerita discusión ni explicación.

Where the eye mixes obeso and obvio

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. obeso (VCVCV) and obvio (VCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
obeso
5 ch
obvio

Visual trap between obeso and obvio

A purely visual mix-up. obeso ([oˈβ̞eso]) and obvio ([ˈoβ̞bjo]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35713, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obeso is recorded at frequency rank #33,251, classified as anadj, pronounced [oˈβ̞eso]. obvio is at rank #2,462, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈoβ̞bjo].

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 35713, this pair ranks #184,585 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of obeso vs obvio

Shared letters: bo. Private to "obeso": es. Private to "obvio": iv.

"obeso" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "obvio" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • obeso ← boeso · obbeso · obeos · obesso · obseo · oebso · oveso
  • obvio ← bovio · obbio · obbvio · obivo · obvoi · obvvio · ovbio · ovvio

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "obeso" for "obvio" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([oˈβ̞eso] versus [ˈoβ̞bjo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "obeso" or "obvio"?
"obvio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,462 in our Spanish list, against #33,251 for "obeso". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "obeso" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "obvio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #184,585 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "obeso" and "obvio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obesa vs obeso". 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 #184,585 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