pasivosvspésimosWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#14,909
“pasivos” frequency rank
#42,097
“pésimos” frequency rank
57006
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pasivos pésimos
Definition Forma del masculino plural de pasivo. Forma del masculino plural de pésimo.

Where the eye mixes pasivos and pésimos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. pasivos and pésimos follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
pasivos
7 ch
pésimos

Visual trap between pasivos and pésimos

A purely visual mix-up. pasivos ([paˈsiβ̞os]) and pésimos ([ˈpesimos]) 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 57006, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pasivos is recorded at frequency rank #14,909, classified as anadj, pronounced [paˈsiβ̞os]. pésimos is at rank #42,097, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈpesimos].

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 57006, this pair ranks #72,255 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pasivos vs pésimos

Shared letters: iops. Private to "pasivos": av. Private to "pésimos": mé.

"pasivos" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "pésimos" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pasivos ← apsivos · pacivos · paisvos · pasibos · pasiovs · pasivoss · pasivso · pasivvos

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pasivos" and "pésimos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([paˈsiβ̞os] versus [ˈpesimos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pasivos" vs "pésimos" - which ranks higher?
"pasivos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,909 in our Spanish list, against #42,097 for "pésimos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pasivos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pésimos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,255 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pasivos" and "pésimos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pericos 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 #72,255 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