obstáculo

[oβ̞sˈt̪akulo]

/[oβ̞sˈt̪akulo]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“obstáculo” has 14 generated spelling variants in the Spanish index at frequency #8,151. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,151
frequency rank, Spanish
1,467
“O” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Cosa difícil, estorbo o dificultad para lograr o realizar algo.

Corpus desk

Index ES-obstaculo · obstáculo · Spanish

obstáculo · rank #8,151 · 14 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,151
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,467
  • PHOTO-FINISH note

Nearest frequency peer: note (-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.

Pares de rango junto al imán ortográfico “obstáculo”

Misma franja de rareza: útil si un typo cae en un lema vecino

corpus weight

What this shows “obstáculo” está entre estos pares FrequencyWords; la profundidad de typo se mide aparte en el gráfico de distancia de edición.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

obstáculo vs obstáculos
90% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for obstáculo
PropertyValue
Headwordobstáculo
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[oβ̞sˈt̪akulo]
Letters9
Frequency rank#8,151
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frecuencia del imán ortográfico “obstáculo”

La frecuencia va del puñado de palabras que usamos sin parar (izquierda) a la cola larga que apenas aparece (derecha).obstáculocae aquí:

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

El eje es logarítmico: cada tick marca unas diez veces menos frecuencia. En la misma franja de rareza aparecen “note” (#8,150), “odian” (#8,152), “noción” (#8,149). Entre 1,467 lemas con “O”, “obstáculo” va en #8,151. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around obstáculo (IPA [oβ̞sˈt̪akulo]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,151 among 1,467 “O” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Cosa difícil, estorbo o dificultad para lograr o realizar algo.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for obstáculo, with forms such as "bostáculo", "obbstáculo", and "obsstáculo". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "obstáculos", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct Spanish form is obstáculo, spelled O-B-S-T-Á-C-U-L-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    Cosa difícil, estorbo o dificultad para lograr o realizar algo.

Synonyms

trabaimpedimentoobstrucción

This word in other languages

obstacle(English)obstacle(Français)Hindernis(Deutsch)obstáculo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bostáculo
  • obbstáculo
  • obsstáculo
  • obstcáulo
  • obsttáculo
  • obstácculo
  • obstácluo
  • obstácullo
  • obstácuol
  • obstáuclo
  • obsátculo
  • obtsáculo
  • osbtáculo
  • ovstáculo

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of obstáculo - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

bostáculo2obbstáculo1obsstáculo1obstcáulo2obsttáculo1obstácculo1obstácluo2obstácullo1
Edit distance from "obstáculo"

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 "obstáculo"?
"obstáculo" is spelled O-B-S-T-Á-C-U-L-O. The IPA pronunciation is [oβ̞sˈt̪akulo].
What does "obstáculo" mean?
As a noun, "obstáculo" means: Cosa difícil, estorbo o dificultad para lograr o realizar algo.
What words are commonly confused with "obstáculo"?
"obstáculo" is commonly confused with "obstáculos". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "obstáculo"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "obstáculo" is [oβ̞sˈt̪akulo]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "obstáculo" come from?
"obstáculo" 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 "obstáculo", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

parciales#8,154quisieron#8,172regulares#8,175fantasmas#8,119

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

misterioso14 variantsesperaban14 variantstransmite14 variantsejércitos14 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list