autoridadvsautoridadesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,537
“autoridad” frequency rank
#1,161
“autoridades” frequency rank
2698
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature autoridad autoridades
Definition Carácter o representación de una persona por su empleo, mérito o nacimiento. Forma del plural de autoridad.

Where the eye mixes autoridad and autoridades

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. autoridad runs 9 letters (VVCVCVCVC) against autoridades's 11 (VVCVCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
autoridad
11 ch
autoridades

Look-alike desk: autoridad vs autoridades

A purely visual mix-up. autoridad ([awt̪oɾiˈð̞að̞]) and autoridades ([awt̪oɾiˈð̞að̞es]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “autoridad” sits inside “autoridades”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2698, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

autoridad is recorded at frequency rank #1,537, classified as anoun, pronounced [awt̪oɾiˈð̞að̞]. autoridades is at rank #1,161, tagged as anoun, pronounced [awt̪oɾiˈð̞að̞es].

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 2698, this pair ranks #319,834 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of autoridad vs autoridades

Shared letters: adiortu. Private to "autoridad": -. Private to "autoridades": es.

"autoridad" · 9 letters · shape VVCVCVCVC  ·  "autoridades" · 11 letters · shape VVCVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • autoridad ← atuoridad · auotridad · autoirdad · autordiad · autoriadd · autoridadd · autoridda · autoriddad
  • autoridades ← atuoridades · auotridades · autoirdades · autordiades · autoriaddes · autoridaddes · autoridadess · autoridadse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "autoridad" and "autoridades" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([awt̪oɾiˈð̞að̞] versus [awt̪oɾiˈð̞að̞es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "autoridad" vs "autoridades" - which ranks higher?
"autoridades" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,161 in our Spanish list, against #1,537 for "autoridad". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "autoridad" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "autoridades" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #319,834 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "autoridad" and "autoridades" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "autoridad vs autorizan". 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 #319,834 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