suplicavssuplicioWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: suplica is a verb, suplicio is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“suplica” is a verb and “suplicio” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#37,874
“suplica” frequency rank
#43,278
“suplicio” frequency rank
81152
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature suplica suplicio
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de suplicar. Pena de severo castigo físico, que en algunos casos se decreta que sea mortal.

Where the eye mixes suplica and suplicio

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. suplica runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against suplicio's 8 (CVCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
suplica
8 ch
suplicio

Visual trap between suplica and suplicio

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: suplica is [suˈplika] while suplicio is [suˈplisjo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81152, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

suplica is recorded at frequency rank #37,874, classified as averb, pronounced [suˈplika]. suplicio is at rank #43,278, tagged as anoun, pronounced [suˈplisjo].

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 81152, this pair ranks #10,755 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of suplica vs suplicio

Shared letters: cilpsu. Private to "suplica": a. Private to "suplicio": o.

"suplica" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "suplicio" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • suplica ← spulica · ssuplica · sulpica · supilca · suplcia · supliac · suplicca · supllica
  • suplicio ← spulicio · ssuplicio · sulpicio · supilcio · suplciio · supliccio · suplicoi · supliico

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "suplica" for "suplicio" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "suplica" is a verb and "suplicio" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "suplica" vs "suplicio" - which ranks higher?
"suplica" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,874 in our Spanish list, against #43,278 for "suplicio". 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 "suplica" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "suplicio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #10,755 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "suplica" and "suplicio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "suplicar vs suplicio". 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 #10,755 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