pilivspsiWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“pili” and “psi” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#44,924
“pili” frequency rank
#36,774
“psi” frequency rank
81698
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pili psi
Definition Forma del plural de pal ('palas'). Letra del alfabeto griego (Ψψ).

Where the eye mixes pili and psi

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. pili runs 4 letters (CVCV) against psi's 3 (CCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
pili
3 ch
psi

Visual trap between pili and psi

A purely visual mix-up. pili ([ˈpiː.li]) and psi ([ˈsi]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81698, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pili is recorded at frequency rank #44,924, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpiː.li]. psi is at rank #36,774, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsi].

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 81698, this pair ranks #10,102 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pili vs psi

Shared letters: ip. Private to "pili": l. Private to "psi": s.

"pili" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "psi" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pili ← ipli · piil · pilli · plii · ppili

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pili" and "psi" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpiː.li] versus [ˈsi]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pili" or "psi" show up more?
"psi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,774 in our Spanish list, against #44,924 for "pili". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "pili" and "psi" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pili" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "psi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #10,102 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pili" and "psi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pele vs pili". 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 #10,102 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list