Which to use
“payaso” and “pays” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,159
- “payaso” frequency rank
- #42,064
- “pays” frequency rank
- 50223
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | payaso | pays |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Actor que suele usar vestimenta y maquillaje estrafalarios con el fin de hacer reír mayormente a los niños. | País. |
Where the eye mixes payaso and pays
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. payaso runs 6 letters (CVVVCV) against pays's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses payaso with pays
A purely visual mix-up. payaso ([paˈʝaso]) and pays (/pɛi/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50223, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
payaso is recorded at frequency rank #8,159, classified as anoun, pronounced [paˈʝaso]. pays is at rank #42,064, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɛi/.
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 50223, this pair ranks #104,415 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of payaso vs pays
Shared letters: apsy. Private to "payaso": o. Private to "pays": -.
"payaso" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCV · "pays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "payaso" and "pays" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "payaso" or "pays" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "payaso" and "pays" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "payaso" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pays" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #104,415 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "payaso" and "pays" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pa'l vs pays". 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 #104,415 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.