espabilar
[espaβ̞iˈlaɾ]
The verdict
“espabilar” is an uncommon Spanish word, ranked #90,893 in Spanish word frequency and used as a verb.
- #90,893
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Limpiar el pabilo, quitar los restos carbonizados que dificultan su luminosidad.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | espabilar |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [espaβ̞iˈlaɾ] |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #90,893 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “espabilar” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for espabilar is 9 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [espaβ̞iˈlaɾ]. Corpus data places it at rank #90,893 in overall Spanish word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for espabilar, suggesting the orthography follows predictable Spanish patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
No documented word history exists for this headword, 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 espabilar, spelled E-S-P-A-B-I-L-A-R.
Definition
- 1Limpiar el pabilo, quitar los restos carbonizados que dificultan su luminosidad.
- 2Estimular las facultades mentales de una persona para agilizar su razonamiento o reducir su inseguridad.
- 3Privar de la vida a alguien.
Synonyms
Antonyms
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 “espabilar”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is E-S-P-A-B-I-L-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [espaβ̞iˈlaɾ] (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
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.