chivato

[t͡ʃiˈβ̞at̪o]

/[t͡ʃiˈβ̞at̪o]/ adj

The verdict

“chivato” is uncommon Spanish (frequency #76,183 among 8,288 “C” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#76,183
frequency rank, Spanish
8,288
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Que se chiva, que comunica a la autoridad asuntos que deberían permanecer en secreto entre los colegas o compañeros de un nivel inferior.

Corpus desk

Index ES-chivato · chivato · Spanish

chivato · rank #76,183 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #76,183
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,288
  • PHOTO-FINISH chiesa

Nearest frequency peer: chiesa (-2 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.

Rangos de cola larga cerca de “chivato”

Banda escasa: las barras invierten el rango para que lo raro se lea más corto

corpus weight

What this shows Vista de cola larga: dónde “chivato” se sitúa frente a rangos españoles igualmente raros.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for chivato
PropertyValue
Headwordchivato
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[t͡ʃiˈβ̞at̪o]
Letters7
Frequency rank#76,183
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Cola larga: rango de “chivato” en español

La frecuencia va del puñado de palabras que usamos sin parar (izquierda) a la cola larga que apenas aparece (derecha).chivatocae en esta cola de rareza:

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

Los ticks avanzan en logaritmo; cada uno es del orden de diez veces más raro. Vecinos raros de la misma franja: “chiesa” (#76,181), “chocamos” (#76,185), “cheat” (#76,180). Entre 8,288 lemas con “C”, “chivato” va en #76,183. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

chivato is uncommon Spanish at frequency #76,183 among 8,288 “C” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed [t͡ʃiˈβ̞at̪o]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Que se chiva, que comunica a la autoridad asuntos que deberían permanecer en secreto entre los colegas o compañeros de un nivel inferior.".

Zero misspellings are on record for chivato in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct Spanish form is chivato, spelled C-H-I-V-A-T-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    Que se chiva, que comunica a la autoridad asuntos que deberían permanecer en secreto entre los colegas o compañeros de un nivel inferior.

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 "chivato"?
"chivato" is spelled C-H-I-V-A-T-O. The IPA pronunciation is [t͡ʃiˈβ̞at̪o].
What does "chivato" mean?
As an adjective, "chivato" means: Que se chiva, que comunica a la autoridad asuntos que deberían permanecer en secreto entre los colegas o compañeros de un nivel inferior.
How do you pronounce "chivato"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "chivato" is [t͡ʃiˈβ̞at̪o]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "chivato" come from?
"chivato" 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 "chivato", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list