acosarvsagotarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,078
“acosar” frequency rank
#24,713
“agotar” frequency rank
51791
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acosar agotar
Definition Perseguir con insistencia y empeño. Acabar recursos o posibilidades hasta su desaparición.

Where the eye mixes acosar and agotar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
acosar
6 ch
agotar

Why the eye confuses acosar with agotar

A purely visual mix-up. acosar ([akoˈsaɾ]) and agotar ([aɣ̞oˈt̪aɾ]) 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 51791, 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]. agotar is at rank #24,713, tagged as averb, pronounced [aɣ̞oˈt̪aɾ].

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 51791, this pair ranks #96,015 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of acosar vs agotar

Shared letters: aor. Private to "acosar": cs. Private to "agotar": gt.

"acosar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "agotar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acosaraccosar · acoasr · acosarr · acosra · acossar · acsoar · aocsar · caosar
  • agotaraggotar · agoatr · agotarr · agotra · agottar · agtoar · aogtar · gaotar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "acosar" for "agotar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([akoˈsaɾ] versus [aɣ̞oˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "acosar" or "agotar"?
"agotar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,713 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.

After this comparison

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 "agotar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #96,015 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "acosar" and "agotar" 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 #96,015 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