perezavsproezaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,447
“pereza” frequency rank
#36,229
“proeza” frequency rank
51676
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pereza proeza
Definition Falta de esfuerzo o dedicación para la realización de las tareas necesarias o prescritas. Acción que requiere gran valor y habilidad para su logro

Where the eye mixes pereza and proeza

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

6 ch
pereza
6 ch
proeza

Visual trap between pereza and proeza

A purely visual mix-up. pereza ([peˈɾesa]) and proeza ([pɾoˈesa]) 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 51676, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pereza is recorded at frequency rank #15,447, classified as anoun, pronounced [peˈɾesa]. proeza is at rank #36,229, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pɾoˈesa].

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 51676, this pair ranks #96,686 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pereza vs proeza

Shared letters: aeprz. Private to "pereza": -. Private to "proeza": o.

"pereza" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "proeza" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • perezaepreza · peerza · pereaz · perezza · perreza · perzea · ppereza · preeza
  • proezaporeza · pproeza · preoza · proeaz · proezza · prozea · prroeza · rpoeza

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pereza" and "proeza" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([peˈɾesa] versus [pɾoˈesa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pereza" or "proeza" show up more?
"pereza" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,447 in our Spanish list, against #36,229 for "proeza". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "pereza" and "proeza" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pereza" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "proeza" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #96,686 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pereza" and "proeza" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "proeza vs prometa". 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 #96,686 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