Which to use
“sam” and “spy” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,889
- “sam” frequency rank
- #48,092
- “spy” frequency rank
- 53981
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sam | spy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Arena. | Espía. |
Where the eye mixes sam and spy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sam with spy
A purely visual mix-up. sam (/sam/) and spy (/spaɪ/) 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 53981, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sam is recorded at frequency rank #5,889, classified as anoun, pronounced /sam/. spy is at rank #48,092, tagged as anoun, pronounced /spaɪ/.
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 53981, this pair ranks #85,353 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sam vs spy
Shared letters: s. Private to "sam": am. Private to "spy": py.
"sam" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "spy" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sam" for "spy" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "sam" or "spy" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "sam" and "spy" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #85,353 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sam" and "spy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sei vs spy". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #85,353 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.