sésamovssismoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#29,856
“sésamo” frequency rank
#10,574
“sismo” frequency rank
40430
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sésamo sismo
Definition (Sesamum indicum) Planta originaria de la India y África cultivada por sus semillas, ricas en aceites vegetales, que se emplean en gastronomía. Movimiento de la corteza terrestre causado por la liberación de tensiones acumuladas a lo largo de las fallas geológicas o por la actividad volcánica.

Where the eye mixes sésamo and sismo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sésamo runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against sismo's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
sésamo
5 ch
sismo

Look-alike desk: sésamo vs sismo

A purely visual mix-up. sésamo ([ˈsesamo]) and sismo ([ˈsismo]) 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 40430, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sésamo is recorded at frequency rank #29,856, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈsesamo]. sismo is at rank #10,574, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsismo].

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 40430, this pair ranks #159,117 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sésamo vs sismo

Shared letters: mos. Private to "sésamo": aé. Private to "sismo": i.

"sésamo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "sismo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sismo ← cismo · issmo · simso · sismmo · sisom · sissmo · ssimo · ssismo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sésamo" for "sismo" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈsesamo] versus [ˈsismo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sésamo" or "sismo"?
"sismo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,574 in our Spanish list, against #29,856 for "sésamo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "sésamo" and "sismo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sésamo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sismo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #159,117 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sésamo" and "sismo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "separo vs sésamo". 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 #159,117 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