tacónvstesónTell them apart

Which to use

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

#28,581
“tacón” frequency rank
#47,449
“tesón” frequency rank
76030
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tacón tesón
Definition Pieza fijada a la suela del calzado, debajo del talón del pie, para dar soporte a este Continuidad del esfuerzo hacia una meta, en especial frente a la fatiga o adversidad.

Where the eye mixes tacón and tesón

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tacón and tesón follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
tacón
5 ch
tesón

Look-alike desk: tacón vs tesón

A purely visual mix-up. tacón ([t̪aˈkõn]) and tesón ([t̪eˈsõn]) 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 76030, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tacón is recorded at frequency rank #28,581, classified as anoun, pronounced [t̪aˈkõn]. tesón is at rank #47,449, tagged as anoun, pronounced [t̪eˈsõn].

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 76030, this pair ranks #18,446 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tacón vs tesón

Shared letters: ntó. Private to "tacón": ac. Private to "tesón": es.

"tacón" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "tesón" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tacón" for "tesón" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([t̪aˈkõn] versus [t̪eˈsõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tacón" vs "tesón" - which ranks higher?
"tacón" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,581 in our Spanish list, against #47,449 for "tesón". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tacón" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tesón" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #18,446 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tacón" and "tesón" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tejo vs tesón". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #18,446 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