vacíosvsviciosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,916
“vacíos” frequency rank
#12,280
“vicios” frequency rank
22196
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vacíos vicios
Definition Forma del plural de vacío. Forma del plural de vicio.

Where the eye mixes vacíos and vicios

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. vacíos and vicios follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
vacíos
6 ch
vicios

Visual trap between vacíos and vicios

A purely visual mix-up. vacíos ([baˈsios]) and vicios ([ˈbisjos]) 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 22196, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vacíos is recorded at frequency rank #9,916, classified as anoun, pronounced [baˈsios]. vicios is at rank #12,280, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbisjos].

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 22196, this pair ranks #251,467 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vacíos vs vicios

Shared letters: cosv. Private to "vacíos": aí. Private to "vicios": i.

"vacíos" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "vicios" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vicios ← bicios · ivcios · vciios · viccios · vicioss · viciso · vicois · viicos

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vacíos" and "vicios" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([baˈsios] versus [ˈbisjos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "vacíos" or "vicios" show up more?
"vacíos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,916 in our Spanish list, against #12,280 for "vicios". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vacíos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vicios" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #251,467 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vacíos" and "vicios" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vicios vs visos". 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 #251,467 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