adhesivovsagresivoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#46,303
“adhesivo” frequency rank
#9,569
“agresivo” frequency rank
55872
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature adhesivo agresivo
Definition Que tiene la propiedad o es capaz de adherirse. Que tiene agresividad, que parece que va a agredir a alguien.

Where the eye mixes adhesivo and agresivo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. adhesivo and agresivo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
adhesivo
8 ch
agresivo

Why the eye confuses adhesivo with agresivo

A purely visual mix-up. adhesivo ([að̞eˈsiβ̞o]) and agresivo ([aɣ̞ɾeˈsiβ̞o]) 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 55872, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

adhesivo is recorded at frequency rank #46,303, classified as anadj, pronounced [að̞eˈsiβ̞o]. agresivo is at rank #9,569, tagged as anadj, pronounced [aɣ̞ɾeˈsiβ̞o].

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 55872, this pair ranks #76,971 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of adhesivo vs agresivo

Shared letters: aeiosv. Private to "adhesivo": dh. Private to "agresivo": gr.

"adhesivo" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV  ·  "agresivo" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • adhesivoaddhesivo · adehsivo · adhecivo · adheisvo · adhesibo · adhesiov · adhesivvo · adhessivo
  • agresivoagersivo · aggresivo · agrecivo · agreisvo · agresibo · agresiov · agresivvo · agressivo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "adhesivo" for "agresivo" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([að̞eˈsiβ̞o] versus [aɣ̞ɾeˈsiβ̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "adhesivo" vs "agresivo" - which ranks higher?
"agresivo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,569 in our Spanish list, against #46,303 for "adhesivo". 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 "adhesivo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "agresivo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #76,971 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "adhesivo" and "agresivo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "adhesiva vs adhesivo". 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 #76,971 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