Which to use
“acosar” and “ahogar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,078
- “acosar” frequency rank
- #22,561
- “ahogar” frequency rank
- 49639
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | acosar | ahogar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Perseguir con insistencia y empeño. | Impedir que una persona o animal respirar, por ejemplo agarrándole la garganta o metiéndolo en el agua, generalmente causándole la muerte. |
Where the eye mixes acosar and ahogar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. acosar and ahogar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses acosar with ahogar
A purely visual mix-up. acosar ([akoˈsaɾ]) and ahogar ([aoˈɣ̞aɾ]) 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 49639, 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]. ahogar is at rank #22,561, tagged as averb, pronounced [aoˈɣ̞aɾ].
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 49639, this pair ranks #107,691 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of acosar vs ahogar
Shared letters: aor. Private to "acosar": cs. Private to "ahogar": gh.
"acosar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "ahogar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "acosar" and "ahogar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "acosar" or "ahogar" show up more?
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 "ahogar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #107,691 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "acosar" and "ahogar" 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 #107,691 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.