peladavspesadaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#33,763
“pelada” frequency rank
#6,214
“pesada” frequency rank
39977
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pelada pesada
Definition Forma del femenino de pelado, participio de pelar o de pelarse. Forma del femenino de pesado, participio de pesar.

Where the eye mixes pelada and pesada

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
pelada
6 ch
pesada

Visual trap between pelada and pesada

A purely visual mix-up. pelada ([peˈlað̞a]) and pesada ([peˈsað̞a]) 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 a single letter - l in “pelada” becomes s in “pesada”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39977, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pelada is recorded at frequency rank #33,763, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [peˈlað̞a]. pesada is at rank #6,214, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [peˈsað̞a].

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 39977, this pair ranks #161,600 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pelada vs pesada

Shared letters: adep. Private to "pelada": l. Private to "pesada": s.

"pelada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "pesada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • peladaeplada · pealda · pelaad · peladda · peldaa · pellada · pleada · ppelada
  • pesadapeasda · pesaad · pesadda · pesdaa · pessada · ppesada · pseada

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pelada" and "pesada" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([peˈlað̞a] versus [peˈsað̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pelada" vs "pesada" - which ranks higher?
"pesada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,214 in our Spanish list, against #33,763 for "pelada". 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 "pelada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pesada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #161,600 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pelada" and "pesada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pelada vs peladas". 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 #161,600 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