apretón de manos

[apɾeˈt̪õn̪ d̪e ˈmanos]

/[apɾeˈt̪õn̪ d̪e ˈmanos]/ phrase

The verdict

“apretón de manos” is outside the top-ranked Spanish vocabulary, used as a phrase - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency Spanish
16
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Acción de apretarse las manos como muestra de saludo o deferencia.

Key facts for apretón de manos
PropertyValue
Headwordapretón de manos
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechPhrase
IPA[apɾeˈt̪õn̪ d̪e ˈmanos]
Letters16
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “apretón de manos” sits in Spanish frequency

apretón de manos falls outside the top-100,000 ranked Spanish words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The Spanish entry for apretón de manos is 16 letters long, classified as a phrase, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [apɾeˈt̪õn̪ d̪e ˈmanos]. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Acción de apretarse las manos como muestra de saludo o deferencia.".

No misspelling variants are generated for apretón de manos in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable Spanish patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct Spanish form is apretón de manos, spelled A-P-R-E-T-Ó-N- -D-E- -M-A-N-O-S, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Acción de apretarse las manos como muestra de saludo o deferencia.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Cite this page

Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:

PlainSpell, “apretón de manos, Spanish word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/es/palabra/apreton-de-manos

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "apretón de manos"?
"apretón de manos" is spelled A-P-R-E-T-Ó-N- -D-E- -M-A-N-O-S. The IPA pronunciation is [apɾeˈt̪õn̪ d̪e ˈmanos].
What does "apretón de manos" mean?
As a phrase, "apretón de manos" means: Acción de apretarse las manos como muestra de saludo o deferencia.
How do you pronounce "apretón de manos"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "apretón de manos" is [apɾeˈt̪õn̪ d̪e ˈmanos]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "apretón de manos" come from?
"apretón de manos" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “apretón de manos”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct Spanish spelling is A-P-R-E-T-Ó-N- -D-E- -M-A-N-O-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [apɾeˈt̪õn̪ d̪e ˈmanos] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish words

Nearby Spanish words

Other entries that begin with the letter A in our Spanish index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list