Which to use
“picada” is a noun and “pícaro” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,914
- “picada” frequency rank
- #35,710
- “pícaro” frequency rank
- 50624
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | picada | pícaro |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Senda estrecha en los montes, y especialmente el paso en los arroyos por donde sólo se puede cruzar a caballo. | Carente de honradez, rectitud y vergüenza. |
Where the eye mixes picada and pícaro
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses picada with pícaro
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: picada is [piˈkað̞a] while pícaro is [ˈpikaɾo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50624, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
picada is recorded at frequency rank #14,914, classified as anoun, pronounced [piˈkað̞a]. pícaro is at rank #35,710, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈpikaɾo].
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 50624, this pair ranks #102,192 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of picada vs pícaro
Shared letters: acp. Private to "picada": di. Private to "pícaro": orí.
"picada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "pícaro" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- picada ← ipcada · pciada · piacda · picaad · picadda · piccada · picdaa · ppicada
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "picada" and "pícaro" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "picada" or "pícaro" show up more?
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 "picada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pícaro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #102,192 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "picada" and "pícaro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "picados vs pícaro". 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 #102,192 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.