castigar

[kast̪iˈɣ̞aɾ]

/[kast̪iˈɣ̞aɾ]/ verb

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

The verdict

“castigar” has 12 generated spelling variants in the Spanish index at frequency #9,417. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,417
frequency rank, Spanish
8,288
“C” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Imponer un castigo al que ha delinquido, infringido una regla o faltado en alguna cosa.

Corpus desk

Index ES-castigar · castigar · Spanish

castigar · rank #9,417 · 12 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,417
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,288
  • PHOTO-FINISH caros

Nearest frequency peer: caros (-1 rank slots)

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.

Pares de rango junto al imán ortográfico “castigar”

Misma franja de rareza: útil si un typo cae en un lema vecino

corpus weight

What this shows “castigar” está entre estos pares FrequencyWords; la profundidad de typo se mide aparte en el gráfico de distancia de edición.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

castigar vs castigo
75% similar
castigar vs castigos
75% similar
castigar vs castigue
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for castigar
PropertyValue
Headwordcastigar
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechVerb
IPA[kast̪iˈɣ̞aɾ]
Letters8
Frequency rank#9,417
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frecuencia del imán ortográfico “castigar”

La frecuencia va del puñado de palabras que usamos sin parar (izquierda) a la cola larga que apenas aparece (derecha).castigarcae aquí:

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

Los ticks avanzan en logaritmo; cada uno es del orden de diez veces más raro. En la misma franja de rareza aparecen “caros” (#9,416), “celebraciones” (#9,418), “cargando” (#9,415). Entre 8,288 lemas con “C”, “castigar” va en #9,417. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around castigar (IPA [kast̪iˈɣ̞aɾ]), averb. Corpus frequency is #9,417 among 8,288 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for castigar, with forms such as "acstigar", "casitgar", and "casstigar". 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 8 confusable-pair relationships, "castigo", "castigos", "castigue", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct Spanish form is castigar, spelled C-A-S-T-I-G-A-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Imponer un castigo al que ha delinquido, infringido una regla o faltado en alguna cosa.
  2. 2
    Afligir, mortificar.
  3. 3
    Tratándose de algún escrito u obra literaria o artística, corregirlos o enmendarlos.
  4. 4
    Advertir, enseñar, prevenir.
  5. 5
    Ejercer una cosa sobre otra esfuerzos demasiado grandes de presión o de percusión.
  6. 6
    Estropear, herir, dañar, caer con fuerza sobre alguna cosa.
  7. 7
    Estimular al caballo para que galope.
  8. 8
    Golpear, sacudir.
  9. 9
    Tener relaciones sexuales con alguien.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. «33. Pero Alá no les iba a castigar estando tú en medio de ellos. Alá no les iba a castigar mientras ellos pedían perdón.
  2. La pampa mata de abajo;/el sol castiga de arriba.//La pampa mata de abajo;/el sol castiga de arriba.//Y entre pampa, sol y salitre,/se pasa el pobre la vida.//Se pasa el pobre la vida.

Synonyms

sancionarespolear

This word in other languages

castigar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • acstigar
  • casitgar
  • casstigar
  • castgiar
  • castiagr
  • castigarr
  • castiggar
  • castigra
  • casttigar
  • catsigar
  • ccastigar
  • csatigar

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of castigar - 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.

acstigar2casitgar2casstigar1castgiar2castiagr2castigarr1castiggar1castigra2
Edit distance from "castigar"

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 "castigar"?
"castigar" is spelled C-A-S-T-I-G-A-R. The IPA pronunciation is [kast̪iˈɣ̞aɾ].
What does "castigar" mean?
As a verb, "castigar" means: Imponer un castigo al que ha delinquido, infringido una regla o faltado en alguna cosa.
What words are commonly confused with "castigar"?
"castigar" is commonly confused with "castigo", "castigos", "castigue". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "castigar"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "castigar" is [kast̪iˈɣ̞aɾ]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "castigar" come from?
"castigar" 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.

Similar Spanish words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "castigar", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

cargando#9,415bancario#9,410atacaron#9,406aprenden#9,405

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

agradece12 variantsempiecen12 variantsenviando12 variantsgobierna12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list