carestía

[kaɾesˈt̪ia]

/[kaɾesˈt̪ia]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“carestía” is uncommon Spanish (frequency #63,645 among 77,812 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#63,645
frequency rank, Spanish
77,812
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Ausencia o menos cantidad de la necesaria de algo, en especial de víveres.

Key facts for carestía
PropertyValue
Headwordcarestía
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[kaɾesˈt̪ia]
Letters8
Frequency rank#63,645
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “carestía” sits in Spanish frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). carestía lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

carestía is uncommon Spanish at frequency #63,645 among 77,812 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [kaɾesˈt̪ia]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for carestía, suggesting the orthography follows predictable Spanish patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct Spanish form is carestía, spelled C-A-R-E-S-T-Í-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Ausencia o menos cantidad de la necesaria de algo, en especial de víveres.
  2. 2
    Precio elevado de los productos de uso habitual, motivado de la falta de ellas.

This word in other languages

shortage(English)défaut(Français)Knappheit(Deutsch)

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 "carestía"?
"carestía" is spelled C-A-R-E-S-T-Í-A. The IPA pronunciation is [kaɾesˈt̪ia].
What does "carestía" mean?
As a noun, "carestía" means: Ausencia o menos cantidad de la necesaria de algo, en especial de víveres.
How do you pronounce "carestía"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "carestía" is [kaɾesˈt̪ia]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "carestía" come from?
"carestía" 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 “carestía”

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

  • The one correct Spanish spelling is C-A-R-E-S-T-Í-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [kaɾesˈt̪ia] (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

Other uncommon Spanish words near this rank

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