adicciónvsadopciónWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,902
“adicción” frequency rank
#4,848
“adopción” frequency rank
13750
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature adicción adopción
Definition Estado de dependencia psicológica y fisiológica, asociado con el ansia, un alivio temporal y consecuencias negativas a largo plazo, junto con un impedimento para controlarlo, de modo que la persona desea dejarlo y no puede; como adicción al alcohol, drogas o, a prácticas como los juegos, las compras, el trabajo, etc. Acto legal mediante el cual se crea un vínculo de parentesco entre dos personas, que generalmente establece una relación de paternidad y/o maternidad.

Where the eye mixes adicción and adopción

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

8 ch
adicción
8 ch
adopción

Why the eye confuses adicción with adopción

A purely visual mix-up. adicción ([að̞ikˈsjõn]) and adopción ([að̞opˈsjõn]) 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 13750, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

adicción is recorded at frequency rank #8,902, classified as anoun, pronounced [að̞ikˈsjõn]. adopción is at rank #4,848, tagged as anoun, pronounced [að̞opˈsjõn].

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 13750, this pair ranks #286,675 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of adicción vs adopción

Shared letters: acdinó. Private to "adicción": -. Private to "adopción": op.

"adicción" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVVC  ·  "adopción" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "adicción" for "adopción" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([að̞ikˈsjõn] versus [að̞opˈsjõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "adicción" vs "adopción" - which ranks higher?
"adopción" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,848 in our Spanish list, against #8,902 for "adicción". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "adicción" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "adopción" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #286,675 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "adicción" and "adopción" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "adopción vs adopciones". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #286,675 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