acariciabavsacariciarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#46,900
“acariciaba” frequency rank
#26,287
“acariciar” frequency rank
73187
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acariciaba acariciar
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de acariciar. Pasar suavemente la mano o los dedos sobre el cuerpo de una persona o animal, como demostración de afecto.

Where the eye mixes acariciaba and acariciar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

10 ch
acariciaba
9 ch
acariciar

Why the eye confuses acariciaba with acariciar

A purely visual mix-up. acariciaba ([akaɾiˈsjaβ̞a]) and acariciar ([akaɾiˈsjaɾ]) 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 73187, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acariciaba is recorded at frequency rank #46,900, classified as averb, pronounced [akaɾiˈsjaβ̞a]. acariciar is at rank #26,287, tagged as averb, pronounced [akaɾiˈsjaɾ].

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 73187, this pair ranks #23,818 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of acariciaba vs acariciar

Shared letters: acir. Private to "acariciaba": b. Private to "acariciar": -.

"acariciaba" · 10 letters · shape VCVCVCVVCV  ·  "acariciar" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acariciabaaacriciaba · acairciaba · acarciiaba · acaricaiba · acaricciaba · acariciaab · acariciabba · acariciava
  • acariciaraacriciar · acairciar · acarciiar · acaricair · acaricciar · acariciarr · acaricira · acariicar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "acariciaba" and "acariciar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([akaɾiˈsjaβ̞a] versus [akaɾiˈsjaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "acariciaba" or "acariciar"?
"acariciar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,287 in our Spanish list, against #46,900 for "acariciaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "acariciaba" and "acariciar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "acariciaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "acariciar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #23,818 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "acariciaba" and "acariciar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acaricia vs acariciaba". 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 #23,818 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