Which to use
“pasivo” and “pésimo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,897
- “pasivo” frequency rank
- #11,663
- “pésimo” frequency rank
- 22560
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pasivo | pésimo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que recibe los efectos de una acción sin participar en ella. | Superlativo irregular de malo: sumamente malo. |
Where the eye mixes pasivo and pésimo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pasivo and pésimo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between pasivo and pésimo
A purely visual mix-up. pasivo ([paˈsiβ̞o]) and pésimo ([ˈpesimo]) 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 22560, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pasivo is recorded at frequency rank #10,897, classified as anadj, pronounced [paˈsiβ̞o]. pésimo is at rank #11,663, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈpesimo].
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 22560, this pair ranks #249,751 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pasivo vs pésimo
Shared letters: iops. Private to "pasivo": av. Private to "pésimo": mé.
"pasivo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "pésimo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pasivo ← apsivo · pacivo · paisvo · pasibo · pasiov · pasivvo · passivo · pasvio
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pasivo" for "pésimo" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pasivo" vs "pésimo" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "pasivo" and "pésimo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pasivo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pésimo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #249,751 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pasivo" and "pésimo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pésimo vs pésimos". 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 #249,751 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.