spyvssusWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: spy is a noun, sus is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“spy” is a noun and “sus” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,092
“spy” frequency rank
#32
“sus” frequency rank
48124
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature spy sus
Definition Espía. Se emplea para avivar, infundir ánimo e incitar a la acción rápida y con vigor.

Where the eye mixes spy and sus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
spy
3 ch
sus

Why the eye confuses spy with sus

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spy is /spaɪ/ while sus is [sus]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48124, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

spy is recorded at frequency rank #48,092, classified as anoun, pronounced /spaɪ/. sus is at rank #32, tagged as anintj, pronounced [sus].

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 48124, this pair ranks #116,212 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of spy vs sus

Shared letters: s. Private to "spy": py. Private to "sus": u.

"spy" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "sus" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "spy" and "sus" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "spy" is a noun and "sus" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "spy" or "sus" show up more?
"sus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32 in our Spanish list, against #48,092 for "spy". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "spy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #116,212 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "spy" and "sus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sei vs spy". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #116,212 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