Which to use
“picado” and “pícara” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,669
- “picado” frequency rank
- #46,151
- “pícara” frequency rank
- 58820
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | picado | pícara |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Epíteto del patrón que se hace con picaduras para señalar un dibujo. | Forma del femenino singular de pícaro. |
Where the eye mixes picado and pícara
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. picado and pícara follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between picado and pícara
A purely visual mix-up. picado ([piˈkað̞o]) and pícara ([ˈpikaɾa]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58820, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
picado is recorded at frequency rank #12,669, classified as anadj, pronounced [piˈkað̞o]. pícara is at rank #46,151, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈpikaɾa].
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 58820, this pair ranks #65,021 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of picado vs pícara
Shared letters: acp. Private to "picado": dio. Private to "pícara": rí.
"picado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "pícara" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- picado ← ipcado · pciado · piacdo · picaddo · picaod · piccado · picdao · ppicado
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "picado" for "pícara" ever safe?
Which is more common, "picado" or "pícara"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "picado" and "pícara" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "picado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pícara" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #65,021 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "picado" and "pícara" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pícara vs pisada". 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 #65,021 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.