calafatear

[kalafat̪eˈaɾ]

/[kalafat̪eˈaɾ]/ verb

The verdict

“calafatear” is uncommon Spanish (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency Spanish
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Sellar con estopa y brea las juntas de madera en las embarcaciones para impermeabilizarlas, una de las últimas tareas a realizar en dique seco antes de la botadura.

Corpus desk

Index ES-calafatear · calafatear · Spanish

calafatear · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for calafatear
PropertyValue
Headwordcalafatear
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechVerb
IPA[kalafat̪eˈaɾ]
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Cola larga: rango de “calafatear” en español

calafatearqueda fuera de las 100.000 palabras españolas más frecuentes, en la cola larga de vocabulario técnico, arcaico o raro, justo donde más se duda de la ortografía.

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

Rare enough to double-check

calafatear is uncommon Spanish outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed [kalafat̪eˈaɾ]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for calafatear, suggesting the orthography follows predictable Spanish patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct Spanish form is calafatear, spelled C-A-L-A-F-A-T-E-A-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Sellar con estopa y brea las juntas de madera en las embarcaciones para impermeabilizarlas, una de las últimas tareas a realizar en dique seco antes de la botadura.
  2. 2
    Por extensión, tapar otras junturas.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how calafatear appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Sebastián encontró a su padre y a Evaristo examinando la barca. Estaba recién calafateada.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "calafatear"?
"calafatear" is spelled C-A-L-A-F-A-T-E-A-R. The IPA pronunciation is [kalafat̪eˈaɾ].
What does "calafatear" mean?
As a verb, "calafatear" means: Sellar con estopa y brea las juntas de madera en las embarcaciones para impermeabilizarlas, una de las últimas tareas a realizar en dique seco antes de la botadura.
How do you pronounce "calafatear"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "calafatear" is [kalafat̪eˈaɾ]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "calafatear" come from?
"calafatear" is a Spanish word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list