pelvisvspolisWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#26,557
“pelvis” frequency rank
#21,440
“polis” frequency rank
47997
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pelvis polis
Definition Cavidad del cuerpo humano, en la parte inferior del tronco, y en cuya formación entran los huesos sacro, cóccix e innominados, y las partes blandas. Contiene la terminación del tubo digestivo, la vejiga urinaria y algunos órganos, correspondientes al aparato genital, principalmente en la mujer. Denominación dada a las ciudades-estado independientes de la antigua Grecia, surgidas en la Edad Oscura mediante un proceso de agregación de núcleos y grupos de población (anteriormente vinculados por el oikos o casa) denominado sinecismo.

Where the eye mixes pelvis and polis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pelvis runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against polis's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
pelvis
5 ch
polis

Look-alike desk: pelvis vs polis

A purely visual mix-up. pelvis ([ˈpelβ̞is]) and polis ([ˈpolis]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47997, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pelvis is recorded at frequency rank #26,557, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpelβ̞is]. polis is at rank #21,440, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpolis].

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 47997, this pair ranks #116,908 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pelvis vs polis

Shared letters: ilps. Private to "pelvis": ev. Private to "polis": o.

"pelvis" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "polis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pelvis ← eplvis · pelbis · pelivs · pellvis · pelviss · pelvsi · pelvvis · pevlis
  • polis ← oplis · plois · poils · poliss · pollis · polsi · ppolis

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pelvis" for "polis" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpelβ̞is] versus [ˈpolis]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pelvis" or "polis"?
"polis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,440 in our Spanish list, against #26,557 for "pelvis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pelvis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "polis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #116,908 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pelvis" and "polis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pelas vs pelvis". 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 #116,908 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