apagarvsaplazarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,467
“apagar” frequency rank
#31,643
“aplazar” frequency rank
40110
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apagar aplazar
Definition Hacer que un aparato electrónico deje de estar encendido. Diferir una acción, con idea de realizarla más adelante.

Where the eye mixes apagar and aplazar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. apagar runs 6 letters (VCVCVC) against aplazar's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
apagar
7 ch
aplazar

Visual trap between apagar and aplazar

A purely visual mix-up. apagar ([apaˈɣ̞aɾ]) and aplazar ([aplaˈsaɾ]) 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 40110, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

apagar is recorded at frequency rank #8,467, classified as averb, pronounced [apaˈɣ̞aɾ]. aplazar is at rank #31,643, tagged as averb, pronounced [aplaˈsaɾ].

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 40110, this pair ranks #160,861 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of apagar vs aplazar

Shared letters: apr. Private to "apagar": g. Private to "aplazar": lz.

"apagar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "aplazar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • apagar ← aapgar · apaagr · apagarr · apaggar · apagra · apgaar · appagar · paagar
  • aplazar ← alpazar · apalzar · aplaazr · aplazarr · aplazra · aplazzar · apllazar · aplzaar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "apagar" for "aplazar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([apaˈɣ̞aɾ] versus [aplaˈsaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "apagar" or "aplazar" show up more?
"apagar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,467 in our Spanish list, against #31,643 for "aplazar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "apagar" and "aplazar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "apagar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aplazar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #160,861 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "apagar" and "aplazar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aplazado vs aplazar". 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 #160,861 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