tercosvstérmicosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,727
“tercos” frequency rank
#39,509
“térmicos” frequency rank
88236
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tercos térmicos
Definition Forma del plural de terco. Forma del plural de térmico.

Where the eye mixes tercos and térmicos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. tercos runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against térmicos's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
tercos
8 ch
térmicos

Why the eye confuses tercos with térmicos

A purely visual mix-up. tercos ([ˈt̪eɾkos]) and térmicos ([ˈt̪eɾmikos]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88236, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tercos is recorded at frequency rank #48,727, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪eɾkos]. térmicos is at rank #39,509, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪eɾmikos].

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 88236, this pair ranks #3,890 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tercos vs térmicos

Shared letters: corst. Private to "tercos": e. Private to "térmicos": imé.

"tercos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "térmicos" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tercos ← etrcos · tecros · terccos · tercoss · tercso · terocs · terrcos · trecos

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tercos" and "térmicos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt̪eɾkos] versus [ˈt̪eɾmikos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tercos" vs "térmicos" - which ranks higher?
"térmicos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,509 in our Spanish list, against #48,727 for "tercos". 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 "tercos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "térmicos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #3,890 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tercos" and "térmicos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tercos vs termos". 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 #3,890 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