quietovsquintoTell them apart

Quick tell: quieto is a adjective, quinto is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“quieto” is an adjective and “quinto” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,216
“quieto” frequency rank
#3,586
“quinto” frequency rank
17802
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quieto quinto
Definition Carente de movimiento, que no se mueve. Que ocupa el puesto siguiente al cuarto en una serie ordenada. Ordinal del cinco.

Where the eye mixes quieto and quinto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
quieto
6 ch
quinto

Why the eye confuses quieto with quinto

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quieto is [ˈkjet̪o] while quinto is [ˈkĩn̪t̪o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “quieto” becomes n in “quinto”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17802, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quieto is recorded at frequency rank #14,216, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkjet̪o]. quinto is at rank #3,586, tagged as anum, pronounced [ˈkĩn̪t̪o].

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 17802, this pair ranks #270,640 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of quieto vs quinto

Shared letters: ioqtu. Private to "quieto": e. Private to "quinto": n.

"quieto" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCV  ·  "quinto" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quietoqiueto · qquieto · queito · quieot · quietto · quiteo · uqieto
  • quintoqiunto · qquinto · quinnto · quinot · quintto · quitno · qunito · uqinto

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quieto" and "quinto" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "quieto" is an adjective and "quinto" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "quieto" or "quinto"?
"quinto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,586 in our Spanish list, against #14,216 for "quieto". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "quieto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "quinto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #270,640 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "quieto" and "quinto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Quero vs quieto". 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 #270,640 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