Which to use
“pagado” is an adjective and “payaso” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,184
- “pagado” frequency rank
- #8,159
- “payaso” frequency rank
- 12343
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pagado | payaso |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alegre. | Actor que suele usar vestimenta y maquillaje estrafalarios con el fin de hacer reír mayormente a los niños. |
Where the eye mixes pagado and payaso
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pagado vs payaso
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pagado is [paˈɣ̞að̞o] while payaso is [paˈʝaso]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12343, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pagado is recorded at frequency rank #4,184, classified as anadj, pronounced [paˈɣ̞að̞o]. payaso is at rank #8,159, tagged as anoun, pronounced [paˈʝaso].
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 12343, this pair ranks #291,876 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pagado vs payaso
Shared letters: aop. Private to "pagado": dg. Private to "payaso": sy.
"pagado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "payaso" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pagado" and "payaso" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "pagado" or "payaso"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "pagado" and "payaso" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pagado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "payaso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #291,876 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pagado" and "payaso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pagado vs plegado". 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 #291,876 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.