suciovssutilWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,012
“sucio” frequency rank
#9,549
“sutil” frequency rank
15561
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sucio sutil
Definition Se dice de lo que no está limpio. Muy fino o delgado.

Where the eye mixes sucio and sutil

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
sucio
5 ch
sutil

Look-alike desk: sucio vs sutil

A purely visual mix-up. sucio ([ˈsusjo]) and sutil ([suˈt̪il]) 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 15561, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sucio is recorded at frequency rank #6,012, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈsusjo]. sutil is at rank #9,549, tagged as anadj, pronounced [suˈt̪il].

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 15561, this pair ranks #279,656 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sucio vs sutil

Shared letters: isu. Private to "sucio": co. Private to "sutil": lt.

"sucio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "sutil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sucioscuio · ssucio · succio · sucoi · suico · susio · uscio
  • sutilssutil · stuil · suitl · sutill · sutli · suttil · ustil

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sucio" and "sutil" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈsusjo] versus [suˈt̪il]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sucio" or "sutil"?
"sucio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,012 in our Spanish list, against #9,549 for "sutil". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "sucio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sutil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #279,656 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sucio" and "sutil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "subís vs sutil". 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 #279,656 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