polillavspólizaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#32,810
“polilla” frequency rank
#19,538
“póliza” frequency rank
52348
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature polilla póliza
Definition 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. Documento legal que avala los contratos de seguros, fletamentos, operaciones de bolsa y otras transacciones comerciales.

Where the eye mixes polilla and póliza

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. polilla runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against póliza's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
polilla
6 ch
póliza

Visual trap between polilla and póliza

A purely visual mix-up. polilla ([poˈliʝa]) and póliza ([ˈpolisa]) 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 52348, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

polilla is recorded at frequency rank #32,810, classified as anoun, pronounced [poˈliʝa]. póliza is at rank #19,538, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpolisa].

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 52348, this pair ranks #93,145 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of polilla vs póliza

Shared letters: ailp. Private to "polilla": o. Private to "póliza": zó.

"polilla" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "póliza" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • polilla ← oplilla · ploilla · poillla · polila · polilal · pollila · pollilla · ppolilla

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "polilla" for "póliza" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([poˈliʝa] versus [ˈpolisa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "polilla" or "póliza" show up more?
"póliza" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,538 in our Spanish list, against #32,810 for "polilla". 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 "polilla" and "póliza" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "polilla" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "póliza" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #93,145 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "polilla" and "póliza" 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 #93,145 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