acosarvsapostarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,078
“acosar” frequency rank
#9,581
“apostar” frequency rank
36659
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acosar apostar
Definition Perseguir con insistencia y empeño. Pactar que si no se verifica lo que alguno asegura perderá una cantidad o cosa.

Where the eye mixes acosar and apostar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
acosar
7 ch
apostar

Visual trap between acosar and apostar

A purely visual mix-up. acosar ([akoˈsaɾ]) and apostar ([aposˈt̪aɾ]) 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 36659, 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]. apostar is at rank #9,581, tagged as averb, pronounced [aposˈt̪aɾ].

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 36659, this pair ranks #179,481 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of acosar vs apostar

Shared letters: aors. Private to "acosar": c. Private to "apostar": pt.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acosaraccosar · acoasr · acosarr · acosra · acossar · acsoar · aocsar · caosar
  • apostaraopstar · aposatr · aposstar · apostarr · apostra · aposttar · apotsar · appostar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "acosar" and "apostar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([akoˈsaɾ] versus [aposˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "acosar" or "apostar"?
"apostar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,581 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.

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 "acosar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apostar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #179,481 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "acosar" and "apostar" 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 #179,481 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