Which to use
“pillo” is an adjective and “pilón” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,643
- “pillo” frequency rank
- #47,991
- “pilón” frequency rank
- 66634
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pillo | pilón |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Se dice del pícaro que no tiene crianza ni buenos modales. | Receptáculo de piedra, que se construye en las fuentes para que, cayendo el agua en él, sirva de abrevadero, de lavadero o para otros usos. |
Where the eye mixes pillo and pilón
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pillo with pilón
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pillo is [ˈpiʝo] while pilón is [piˈlõn]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66634, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pillo is recorded at frequency rank #18,643, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈpiʝo]. pilón is at rank #47,991, tagged as anoun, pronounced [piˈlõn].
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 66634, this pair ranks #39,338 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pillo vs pilón
Shared letters: ilp. Private to "pillo": o. Private to "pilón": nó.
"pillo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "pilón" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- pillo ← ipllo · pilo · pilol · plilo · ppillo
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pillo" for "pilón" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pillo" or "pilón"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pillo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pilón" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #39,338 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pillo" and "pilón" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pillen vs pilón". 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 #39,338 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.