Which to use
“puntilla” and “puntillas” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,148
- “puntilla” frequency rank
- #33,796
- “puntillas” frequency rank
- 79944
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | puntilla | puntillas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tipo de encaje muy angosto hecho en puntas que se coloca para guarnecer los bordes de pañuelos, mangas, toallas, escotes, etc.. | Forma del plural de puntilla |
Where the eye mixes puntilla and puntillas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. puntilla runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against puntillas's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: puntilla vs puntillas
A purely visual mix-up. puntilla ([pũn̪ˈt̪iʝa]) and puntillas ([pũn̪ˈt̪iʝas]) 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 extra letter(s) - “puntilla” sits inside “puntillas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79944, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
puntilla is recorded at frequency rank #46,148, classified as anoun, pronounced [pũn̪ˈt̪iʝa]. puntillas is at rank #33,796, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pũn̪ˈt̪iʝas].
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 79944, this pair ranks #12,316 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of puntilla vs puntillas
Shared letters: ailnptu. Private to "puntilla": -. Private to "puntillas": s.
"puntilla" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "puntillas" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "puntilla" for "puntillas" ever safe?
Which is more common, "puntilla" or "puntillas"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "puntilla" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "puntillas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #12,316 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "puntilla" and "puntillas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patilla vs puntilla". 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 #12,316 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.