acosarvsacostarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,078
“acosar” frequency rank
#25,508
“acostar” frequency rank
52586
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acosar acostar
Definition Perseguir con insistencia y empeño. Echar o tender a alguno para que duerma o descanse, y con especialidad en la cama.

Where the eye mixes acosar and acostar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. acosar runs 6 letters (VCVCVC) against acostar's 7 (VCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
acosar
7 ch
acostar

Visual trap between acosar and acostar

A purely visual mix-up. acosar ([akoˈsaɾ]) and acostar ([akosˈt̪aɾ]) 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 52586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acosar is recorded at frequency rank #27,078, classified as averb, pronounced [akoˈsaɾ]. acostar is at rank #25,508, tagged as averb, pronounced [akosˈt̪aɾ].

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 52586, this pair ranks #92,011 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of acosar vs acostar

Shared letters: acors. Private to "acosar": -. Private to "acostar": t.

"acosar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "acostar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acosar ← accosar · acoasr · acosarr · acosra · acossar · acsoar · aocsar · caosar
  • acostar ← accostar · acosatr · acosstar · acostarr · acostra · acosttar · acotsar · acsotar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "acosar" and "acostar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([akoˈsaɾ] versus [akosˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "acosar" vs "acostar" - which ranks higher?
"acostar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,508 in our Spanish list, against #27,078 for "acosar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "acosar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "acostar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #92,011 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "acosar" and "acostar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acosar vs acuosa". 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 #92,011 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