Which to use
“piojo” and “plomo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,804
- “piojo” frequency rank
- #7,478
- “plomo” frequency rank
- 40282
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | piojo | plomo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (orden Phthiraptera) Cualquiera de más de 3000 especies de insectos ápteros adaptados para parasitar virtualmente todas las especies de mamíferos y aves, cuya sangre consumen, alojándose en el cabello del cuerpo y la cabeza. Su cuerpo está diseñado para este hábitat, con el primer par de patas modificado para permitir la sujeción al cabello. Son extremadamente fértiles, depositando las hembras hasta unos 200 huevos en los 30 días de su vida adulta. Tienen el cuerpo aplanado y de color oscuro o pardoamarillento. La infestación con piojos se denomina pediculosis, y provoca comezón, además de funcionar como vector para otras enfermedades —en particular el tifus— y provocar anemia en casos agudos. | Elemento químico de la tabla periódica de los elementos, con símbolo Pb y número atómico 82, un metal pesado, dúctil, maleable, poco tenaz, de color azul grisáceo, y muy tóxico. |
Where the eye mixes piojo and plomo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between piojo and plomo
A purely visual mix-up. piojo ([ˈpjoxo]) and plomo ([ˈplomo]) 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 40282, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
piojo is recorded at frequency rank #32,804, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpjoxo]. plomo is at rank #7,478, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈplomo].
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 40282, this pair ranks #159,959 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of piojo vs plomo
Shared letters: op. Private to "piojo": ij. Private to "plomo": lm.
"piojo" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "plomo" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "piojo" for "plomo" ever safe?
Which is more common, "piojo" or "plomo"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "piojo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "plomo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #159,959 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "piojo" and "plomo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "piojo vs probo". 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 #159,959 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.