Which to use
“afilado” is an adjective and “anclado” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,315
- “afilado” frequency rank
- #32,493
- “anclado” frequency rank
- 62808
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | afilado | anclado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que cuenta con filo o borde cortante. | Participio de anclar. |
Where the eye mixes afilado and anclado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. afilado (VCVCVCV) and anclado (VCCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: afilado vs anclado
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: afilado is [afiˈlað̞o] while anclado is [ãŋˈklað̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62808, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
afilado is recorded at frequency rank #30,315, classified as anadj, pronounced [afiˈlað̞o]. anclado is at rank #32,493, tagged as averb, pronounced [ãŋˈklað̞o].
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 62808, this pair ranks #50,775 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of afilado vs anclado
Shared letters: adlo. Private to "afilado": fi. Private to "anclado": cn.
"afilado" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV · "anclado" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "afilado" for "anclado" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "afilado" or "anclado" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "afilado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "anclado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #50,775 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "afilado" and "anclado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anclado vs anulando". 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 #50,775 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.