Which to use
“picado” and “posado” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,669
- “picado” frequency rank
- #47,341
- “posado” frequency rank
- 60010
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | picado | posado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Epíteto del patrón que se hace con picaduras para señalar un dibujo. | Difunto. |
Where the eye mixes picado and posado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. picado and posado follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses picado with posado
A purely visual mix-up. picado ([piˈkað̞o]) and posado ([poˈsað̞o]) 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 60010, 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]. posado is at rank #47,341, tagged as anadj, pronounced [poˈsað̞o].
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 60010, this pair ranks #60,473 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of picado vs posado
Shared letters: adop. Private to "picado": ci. Private to "posado": s.
"picado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "posado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "picado" for "posado" ever safe?
Frequency check: "picado" vs "posado" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "picado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "posado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #60,473 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "picado" and "posado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pasmado vs posado". 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 #60,473 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.