característico
[kaɾakt̪eˈɾist̪iko]
The verdict
“característico” is a moderately-common Spanish word, ranked #10,631 in Spanish word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #10,631
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 14
- letters
- 21
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Que permite distinguir a una persona o cosa de sus semejantes.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | característico |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [kaɾakt̪eˈɾist̪iko] |
| Letters | 14 |
| Frequency rank | #10,631 |
| Misspellings tracked | 21 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “característico” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for característico is 14 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [kaɾakt̪eˈɾist̪iko]. Corpus data places it at rank #10,631 in overall Spanish word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 21 likely wrong-spelling variants for característico, with forms such as "acracterístico", "caarcterístico", and "caraccterístico". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "característicos", "característica", "características", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct Spanish form is característico, spelled C-A-R-A-C-T-E-R-Í-S-T-I-C-O.
Definition
- 1Que permite distinguir a una persona o cosa de sus semejantes.
- 2Que pertenece o concierne al carácter.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: acracterístico,caarcterístico,caraccterístico,caracetrístico,caracterrístico,caractersítico,caracterísitco,caracterísstico,característcio,característicco,característioc,característtico,caracterítsico,caracteírstico,caractreístico,caractterístico,caratcerístico,carcaterístico,carracterístico,ccaracterístico,craacterístico
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of característico - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "característico"?
What does "característico" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "característico"?
How do you pronounce "característico"?
What language does "característico" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “característico”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is C-A-R-A-C-T-E-R-Í-S-T-I-C-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [kaɾakt̪eˈɾist̪iko] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “característicos” - see the side-by-side comparison. característico vs característicos
- Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish words
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.