fatal
[faˈt̪al]
The verdict
“fatal” is a regularly-used Spanish word, ranked #6,408 in Spanish word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #6,408
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Que pertenece o concierne a los hados.
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 | fatal |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [faˈt̪al] |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #6,408 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fatal” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for fatal is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [faˈt̪al]. Corpus data places it at rank #6,408 in overall Spanish word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for fatal, with forms such as "aftal", "faatl", and "fatall". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "fate", "final", "foral", 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, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct Spanish form is fatal, spelled F-A-T-A-L.
Definition
- 1Que pertenece o concierne a los hados.
- 2Por extensión, que no puede evitarse.
- 3En especial, dicho de un plazo, que no puede prorrogarse.
- 4Por extensión, que causa desgracia o infelicidad.
- 5Muy malo.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aftal,faatl,fatall,fattal,ffatal,ftaal
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fatal - 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
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Using “fatal”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is F-A-T-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [faˈt̪al] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “fate” - see the side-by-side comparison. fatal vs fate
- 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.