piquevspulqueWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,238
“pique” frequency rank
#46,763
“pulque” frequency rank
64001
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pique pulque
Definition Resentimiento, desazón o disgusto ocasionado de una disputa u otra cosa semejante. Bebida alcohólica que se fabrica a partir de la fermentación del jugo o aguamiel del agave o maguey, especialmente el maguey pulquero (Agave salmiana). Actualmente su producción se realiza principalmente en el estado de Hidalgo, México.

Where the eye mixes pique and pulque

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pique runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against pulque's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
pique
6 ch
pulque

Visual trap between pique and pulque

A purely visual mix-up. pique ([ˈpike]) and pulque ([ˈpulke]) 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 64001, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pique is recorded at frequency rank #17,238, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpike]. pulque is at rank #46,763, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpulke].

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 64001, this pair ranks #46,914 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pique vs pulque

Shared letters: epqu. Private to "pique": i. Private to "pulque": l.

"pique" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "pulque" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pique ← ipque · piqeu · piqque · piuqe · ppique · pqiue
  • pulque ← pluque · ppulque · pullque · pulqeu · pulqque · puluqe · puqlue · uplque

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pique" and "pulque" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpike] versus [ˈpulke]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pique" or "pulque" show up more?
"pique" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,238 in our Spanish list, against #46,763 for "pulque". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pique" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pulque" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #46,914 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pique" and "pulque" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "psique vs pulque". 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 #46,914 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