instaba

[ĩnsˈt̪aβ̞a]

/[ĩnsˈt̪aβ̞a]/ verb

The verdict

“instaba” is uncommon Spanish (frequency #58,610 among 3,428 “I” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#58,610
frequency rank, Spanish
3,428
“I” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de instar.

Corpus desk

Index ES-instaba · instaba · Spanish

instaba · rank #58,610 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #58,610
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,428
  • PHOTO-FINISH inscríbete

Nearest frequency peer: inscríbete (-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.

Rangos de cola larga cerca de “instaba”

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 “instaba” se sitúa frente a rangos españoles igualmente raros.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for instaba
PropertyValue
Headwordinstaba
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ĩnsˈt̪aβ̞a]
Letters7
Frequency rank#58,610
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Cola larga: rango de “instaba” en español

La frecuencia va del puñado de palabras que usamos sin parar (izquierda) a la cola larga que apenas aparece (derecha).instabacae 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: “inscríbete” (#58,609), “instruida” (#58,611), “inscriban” (#58,608). Entre 3,428 lemas con “I”, “instaba” va en #58,610. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

instaba is uncommon Spanish at frequency #58,610 among 3,428 “I” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ĩnsˈt̪aβ̞a]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for instaba, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

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 instaba, spelled I-N-S-T-A-B-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de instar.
  2. 2
    Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de instar.

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 "instaba"?
"instaba" is spelled I-N-S-T-A-B-A. The IPA pronunciation is [ĩnsˈt̪aβ̞a].
What does "instaba" mean?
As a verb, "instaba" means: Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de instar.
How do you pronounce "instaba"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "instaba" is [ĩnsˈt̪aβ̞a]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "instaba" come from?
"instaba" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "instaba", 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