oscilar

[osiˈlaɾ]

/[osiˈlaɾ]/ verb

The verdict

“oscilar” is uncommon Spanish (frequency #53,096 among 1,467 “O” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,096
frequency rank, Spanish
1,467
“O” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Desplazarse alternadamente en un sentido o en el opuesto, tal como un péndulo o como una embarcación movida por las olas.

Corpus desk

Index ES-oscilar · oscilar · Spanish

oscilar · rank #53,096 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,096
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,467
  • PHOTO-FINISH paisas

Nearest frequency peer: paisas (+3 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 “oscilar”

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for oscilar
PropertyValue
Headwordoscilar
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechVerb
IPA[osiˈlaɾ]
Letters7
Frequency rank#53,096
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Cola larga: rango de “oscilar” en español

La frecuencia va del puñado de palabras que usamos sin parar (izquierda) a la cola larga que apenas aparece (derecha).oscilarcae en esta cola de rareza:

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

El eje es logarítmico: cada tick marca unas diez veces menos frecuencia. Vecinos raros de la misma franja: “paisas” (#53,099), “ortográficas” (#53,092), “papada” (#53,100). Entre 1,467 lemas con “O”, “oscilar” va en #53,096. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

oscilar is uncommon Spanish at frequency #53,096 among 1,467 “O” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [osiˈlaɾ]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

oscilar has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct Spanish form is oscilar, spelled O-S-C-I-L-A-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Desplazarse alternadamente en un sentido o en el opuesto, tal como un péndulo o como una embarcación movida por las olas.
  2. 2
    Aumentar y decrecer, de modo alterno y más o menos regular, valores de fenómenos físicos, cotizaciones o mercancías.
  3. 3
    Titubear, vacilar.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how oscilar appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. El péndulo de Escocia vuelve a oscilar hacia el lado de los unionistas. A falta de 200 días para el referéndum, el 'no' a la independencia ha vuelto a abrir una nueva brecha de 25 puntos (57% frente al 32%), según el último sondeo de Ipsos para 'The Guardian'. La misma encuesta detecta una creciente ansiedad entre los escoceses por los efectos económicos…

Synonyms

This word in other languages

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 "oscilar"?
"oscilar" is spelled O-S-C-I-L-A-R. The IPA pronunciation is [osiˈlaɾ].
What does "oscilar" mean?
As a verb, "oscilar" means: Desplazarse alternadamente en un sentido o en el opuesto, tal como un péndulo o como una embarcación movida por las olas.
How do you pronounce "oscilar"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "oscilar" is [osiˈlaɾ]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "oscilar" come from?
"oscilar" 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 "oscilar", 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