abrazarvsagravarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#14,043
“abrazar” frequency rank
#35,329
“agravar” frequency rank
49372
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abrazar agravar
Definition Rodear una cosa o a alguien con los brazos. Hacer más grave, serio o molesto. Desmejorar, empeorar.

Where the eye mixes abrazar and agravar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. abrazar and agravar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
abrazar
7 ch
agravar

Look-alike desk: abrazar vs agravar

A purely visual mix-up. abrazar ([aβ̞ɾaˈsaɾ]) and agravar ([aɣ̞ɾaˈβ̞aɾ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49372, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abrazar is recorded at frequency rank #14,043, classified as averb, pronounced [aβ̞ɾaˈsaɾ]. agravar is at rank #35,329, tagged as averb, pronounced [aɣ̞ɾaˈβ̞aɾ].

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 49372, this pair ranks #109,227 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abrazar vs agravar

Shared letters: ar. Private to "abrazar": bz. Private to "agravar": gv.

"abrazar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "agravar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abrazar ← abarzar · abbrazar · abraazr · abrazarr · abrazra · abrazzar · abrrazar · abrzaar
  • agravar ← agarvar · aggravar · agraavr · agrabar · agravarr · agravra · agravvar · agrravar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abrazar" for "agravar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aβ̞ɾaˈsaɾ] versus [aɣ̞ɾaˈβ̞aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abrazar" or "agravar"?
"abrazar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,043 in our Spanish list, against #35,329 for "agravar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abrazar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "agravar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #109,227 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abrazar" and "agravar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "agravar vs atracar". 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 #109,227 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