pacosvspicoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#47,304
“pacos” frequency rank
#3,279
“pico” frequency rank
50583
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pacos pico
Definition Forma del plural de paco. Estructura óseo-vascular que cubre la boca y nariz de las aves, adaptada a sus hábitos alimentarios.

Where the eye mixes pacos and pico

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
pacos
4 ch
pico

Why the eye confuses pacos with pico

A purely visual mix-up. pacos ([ˈpakos]) and pico ([ˈpiko]) 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 50583, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pacos is recorded at frequency rank #47,304, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpakos]. pico is at rank #3,279, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpiko].

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 50583, this pair ranks #102,432 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pacos vs pico

Shared letters: cop. Private to "pacos": as. Private to "pico": i.

"pacos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "pico" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pacosapcos · paccos · pacoss · pacso · paocs · pcaos · ppacos
  • picoipco · pcio · picco · pioc · ppico

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pacos" for "pico" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpakos] versus [ˈpiko]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pacos" vs "pico" - which ranks higher?
"pico" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,279 in our Spanish list, against #47,304 for "pacos". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pacos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pico" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #102,432 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pacos" and "pico" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pacos vs pacta". 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 #102,432 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