cártel
[ˈkaɾt̪el]
The verdict
“cártel” is a moderately-common Spanish word, ranked #17,657 in Spanish word frequency and used as a noun.
- #17,657
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Organización de tráfico de estupefacientes
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 | cártel |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈkaɾt̪el] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #17,657 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cártel” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for cártel is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈkaɾt̪el]. Corpus data places it at rank #17,657 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 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for cártel, with forms such as "ccártel", "crátel", and "cáretl". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cate", "corte", "cruel", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct Spanish form is cártel, spelled C-Á-R-T-E-L.
Definition
- 1Organización de tráfico de estupefacientes
- 2Acuerdo formal entre empresas del mismo sector, cuyo fin es reducir o eliminar la competencia en un determinado mercado.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccártel,crátel,cáretl,cárrtel,cártell,cártle,cárttel,cátrel,ácrtel
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cártel - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "cártel"?
What does "cártel" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "cártel"?
How do you pronounce "cártel"?
What language does "cártel" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “cártel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is C-Á-R-T-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈkaɾt̪el] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “cate” - see the side-by-side comparison. cártel vs cate
- 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.