Which to use
“policía” and “polilla” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #436
- “policía” frequency rank
- #32,810
- “polilla” frequency rank
- 33246
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | policía | polilla |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fuerza de seguridad encargada de imponer el orden en el interior de un Estado, de la investigación de los delitos y la persecución y captura de los imputados de los mismos. | Mariposa nocturna de un centímetro de largo, cenicienta, con una mancha negra en las alas, que son horizontales y estrechas, cabeza amarillenta y antenas casi verticales. Su larva, de unos dos milímetros de longitud, se alimenta de borra y hace una especie de capullo, destruyendo para ello la materia en donde anida, que suele ser de lana, tejidos, pieles, papel, etc. |
Where the eye mixes policía and polilla
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. policía (CVCVCVV) and polilla (CVCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: policía vs polilla
A purely visual mix-up. policía ([poliˈsia]) and polilla ([poˈliʝa]) 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 33246, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
policía is recorded at frequency rank #436, classified as anoun, pronounced [poliˈsia]. polilla is at rank #32,810, tagged as anoun, pronounced [poˈliʝa].
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 33246, this pair ranks #197,802 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of policía vs polilla
Shared letters: ailop. Private to "policía": cí. Private to "polilla": -.
"policía" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "polilla" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- polilla ← oplilla · ploilla · poillla · polila · polilal · pollila · pollilla · ppolilla
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "policía" and "polilla" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "policía" or "polilla"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "policía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "polilla" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #197,802 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "policía" and "polilla" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patilla vs polilla". 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 #197,802 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.