Which to use
“espia” and “espinha” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,012
- “espia” frequency rank
- #12,056
- “espinha” frequency rank
- 53068
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | espia | espinha |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pessoa que observa escondida | termo vulgar para a coluna vertebral |
Where the eye mixes espia and espinha
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. espia runs 5 letters (VCCVV) against espinha's 7 (VCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between espia and espinha
A purely visual mix-up. espia (/iʃ.ˈpi.ɐ/) and espinha (/iʃ.ˈpi.ɲɐ/) 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 53068, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
espia is recorded at frequency rank #41,012, classified as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈpi.ɐ/. espinha is at rank #12,056, tagged as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈpi.ɲɐ/.
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 53068, this pair ranks #12,306 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of espia vs espinha
Shared letters: aeips. Private to "espia": -. Private to "espinha": hn.
"espia" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV · "espinha" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "espia" and "espinha" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "espia" vs "espinha" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "espia" and "espinha" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "espia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "espinha" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #12,306 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "espia" and "espinha" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espia vs espinal". 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 #12,306 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.