pegavspeloConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#5,143
“pega” frequency rank
#1,328
“pelo” frequency rank
6471
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pega pelo
Definition Acción de pegar o conglutinar una cosa con otra. Filamento de queratina que crece en la piel de humanos y animales, cubren parte de la cabeza u otras partes del cuerpo, tiene una raíz bulbosa que nace en los poros de la piel.

Where the eye mixes pega and pelo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
pega
4 ch
pelo

Visual trap between pega and pelo

A purely visual mix-up. pega ([ˈpeɣ̞a]) and pelo ([ˈpelo]) 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 6471, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pega is recorded at frequency rank #5,143, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpeɣ̞a]. pelo is at rank #1,328, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpelo].

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 6471, this pair ranks #310,680 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pega vs pelo

Shared letters: ep. Private to "pega": ag. Private to "pelo": lo.

"pega" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "pelo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pegaepga · peag · pegga · pgea · ppega
  • peloeplo · pello · peol · pleo · ppelo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pega" and "pelo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpeɣ̞a] versus [ˈpelo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pega" or "pelo"?
"pelo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,328 in our Spanish list, against #5,143 for "pega". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pega" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pelo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #310,680 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pega" and "pelo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pega vs petar". 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 #310,680 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