Which to use
“pilar” is a noun and “pillo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,340
- “pilar” frequency rank
- #18,643
- “pillo” frequency rank
- 23983
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pilar | pillo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Elemento arquitectónico vertical de soporte aislado y macizo ya sea de sección rectangular, cruciforme o estrellada, que se usa en la construcción para soportar una estructura. | Se dice del pícaro que no tiene crianza ni buenos modales. |
Where the eye mixes pilar and pillo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pilar vs pillo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pilar is [piˈlaɾ] while pillo is [ˈpiʝo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 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 23983, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pilar is recorded at frequency rank #5,340, classified as anoun, pronounced [piˈlaɾ]. pillo is at rank #18,643, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈpiʝo].
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 23983, this pair ranks #243,275 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pilar vs pillo
Shared letters: ilp. Private to "pilar": ar. Private to "pillo": o.
"pilar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "pillo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pilar" and "pillo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "pilar" or "pillo"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "pilar" and "pillo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pilar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pillo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #243,275 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pilar" and "pillo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pillen vs pillo". 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 #243,275 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.