ahíncovsáticoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ahínco is a noun, ático is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ahínco” is a noun and “ático” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,527
“ahínco” frequency rank
#18,421
“ático” frequency rank
65948
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ahínco ático
Definition Gran eficacia, dedicación o empeño con que se hace o pide algo. Originario, relativo a, o propio de Ática, en Grecia

Where the eye mixes ahínco and ático

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ahínco runs 6 letters (VCVCCV) against ático's 5 (VCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
ahínco
5 ch
ático

Why the eye confuses ahínco with ático

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ahínco is [aˈĩŋko] while ático is [ˈat̪iko]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65948, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ahínco is recorded at frequency rank #47,527, classified as anoun, pronounced [aˈĩŋko]. ático is at rank #18,421, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈat̪iko].

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 65948, this pair ranks #41,193 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ahínco vs ático

Shared letters: co. Private to "ahínco": ahní. Private to "ático": itá.

"ahínco" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "ático" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ahínco" for "ático" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ahínco" is a noun and "ático" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ahínco" or "ático" show up more?
"ático" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,421 in our Spanish list, against #47,527 for "ahínco". 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 "ahínco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ático" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #41,193 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ahínco" and "ático" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ahínco vs Atenco". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #41,193 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