Which to use
“pícara” is an adjective and “picota” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,151
- “pícara” frequency rank
- #44,373
- “picota” frequency rank
- 90524
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pícara | picota |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del femenino singular de pícaro. | Rollo o columna de piedra o de fábrica, que había a la entrada de algunos lugares, donde se exponían las cabezas de los ajusticiados, o los reos, a la vergüenza. |
Where the eye mixes pícara and picota
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pícara and picota follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: pícara vs picota
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pícara is [ˈpikaɾa] while picota is [piˈkot̪a]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 90524, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pícara is recorded at frequency rank #46,151, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈpikaɾa]. picota is at rank #44,373, tagged as anoun, pronounced [piˈkot̪a].
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 90524, this pair ranks #2,459 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pícara vs picota
Shared letters: acp. Private to "pícara": rí. Private to "picota": iot.
"pícara" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "picota" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- picota ← ipcota · pciota · piccota · picoat · picotta · pictoa · piocta · ppicota
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pícara" and "picota" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pícara" or "picota" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pícara" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "picota" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,459 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pícara" and "picota" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pacta vs picota". 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 #2,459 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.