abrasadorvsatrasadoTell them apart

Which to use

“abrasador” and “atrasado” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#49,373
“abrasador” frequency rank
#18,447
“atrasado” frequency rank
67820
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abrasador atrasado
Definition Que abrasa, que quema. Que llega después de lo acordado o estipulado.

Where the eye mixes abrasador and atrasado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. abrasador runs 9 letters (VCCVCVCVC) against atrasado's 8 (VCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
abrasador
8 ch
atrasado

Why the eye confuses abrasador with atrasado

A purely visual mix-up. abrasador ([aβ̞ɾasaˈð̞oɾ]) and atrasado ([at̪ɾaˈsað̞o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67820, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abrasador is recorded at frequency rank #49,373, classified as anadj, pronounced [aβ̞ɾasaˈð̞oɾ]. atrasado is at rank #18,447, tagged as anadj, pronounced [at̪ɾaˈsað̞o].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 67820, this pair ranks #36,146 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of abrasador vs atrasado

Shared letters: adors. Private to "abrasador": b. Private to "atrasado": t.

"abrasador" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC  ·  "atrasado" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abrasadorabarsador · abbrasador · abraasdor · abrasaddor · abrasadorr · abrasadro · abrasaodr · abrasdaor
  • atrasadoartasado · atarsado · atraasdo · atrasaddo · atrasaod · atrasdao · atrassado · atrrasado

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abrasador" for "atrasado" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aβ̞ɾasaˈð̞oɾ] versus [at̪ɾaˈsað̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abrasador" vs "atrasado" - which ranks higher?
"atrasado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,447 in our Spanish list, against #49,373 for "abrasador". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abrasador" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "atrasado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #36,146 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abrasador" and "atrasado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abrasador vs abrazados". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #36,146 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list