provsproxyTell them apart

Quick tell: pro is a preposition, proxy is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pro” is a preposition and “proxy” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,421
“pro” frequency rank
#25,011
“proxy” frequency rank
26432
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pro proxy
Definition Úsase para indicar el beneficiario de una acción o iniciativa. Programa, servidor o dispositivo que realiza una acción en representación de otro.

Where the eye mixes pro and proxy

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

3 ch
pro
5 ch
proxy

Why the eye confuses pro with proxy

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pro is [ˈpɾo] while proxy is [ˈpɾoksi]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “pro” sits inside “proxy”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26432, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pro is recorded at frequency rank #1,421, classified as aprep, pronounced [ˈpɾo]. proxy is at rank #25,011, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɾoksi].

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 26432, this pair ranks #231,636 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pro vs proxy

Shared letters: opr. Private to "pro": -. Private to "proxy": xy.

"pro" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "proxy" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • proxyporxy · pproxy · proxxy · proxyy · proyx · prroxy · prxoy · rpoxy

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pro" for "proxy" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pro" is a preposition and "proxy" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pro" or "proxy" show up more?
"pro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,421 in our Spanish list, against #25,011 for "proxy". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pro" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "proxy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #231,636 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pro" and "proxy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "probo vs proxy". 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 #231,636 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