cierto
[ˈsjeɾt̪o]
The verdict
“cierto” is in the everyday core of Spanish, ranked #352 in Spanish word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #352
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Que se sabe real, verdadero, que no ofrece dudas.
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 | cierto |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [ˈsjeɾt̪o] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #352 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cierto” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for cierto is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈsjeɾt̪o]. Corpus data places it at rank #352 in overall Spanish word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 7 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 cierto, with forms such as "ccierto", "ceirto", and "cierot". 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, "Ciro", "corto", "circo", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct Spanish form is cierto, spelled C-I-E-R-T-O.
Definition
- 1Que se sabe real, verdadero, que no ofrece dudas.
- 2Usado inmediatamente antes de un sustantivo: Indeterminado.
- 3Considerable, suficiente.
- 4Hablando de los perros, se dice de aquellos que dan señas ciertas de la caza, y que seguramente la levantan.
- 5Sabedor, seguro de la verdad de algún hecho.
- 6Certero.
- 7Fullero.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccierto,ceirto,cierot,cierrto,ciertto,cietro,cireto,icerto,sierto
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cierto - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “cierto”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is C-I-E-R-T-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈsjeɾt̪o] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Ciro” - see the side-by-side comparison. cierto vs Ciro
- 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.