besarvsbotarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,456
“besar” frequency rank
#25,536
“botar” frequency rank
35992
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature besar botar
Definition Tocar con los labios como una muestra de amor, aprecio o respeto. Echar de algún sitio, retirar de un grupo o lugar por la fuerza.

Where the eye mixes besar and botar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
besar
5 ch
botar

Look-alike desk: besar vs botar

A purely visual mix-up. besar ([beˈsaɾ]) and botar ([boˈt̪aɾ]) 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 35992, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

besar is recorded at frequency rank #10,456, classified as averb, pronounced [beˈsaɾ]. botar is at rank #25,536, tagged as averb, pronounced [boˈt̪aɾ].

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 35992, this pair ranks #183,059 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of besar vs botar

Shared letters: abr. Private to "besar": es. Private to "botar": ot.

"besar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "botar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • besarbbesar · beasr · besarr · besra · bessar · bsear · ebsar · vesar
  • botarbbotar · boatr · botarr · botra · bottar · btoar · obtar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "besar" and "botar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([beˈsaɾ] versus [boˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "besar" or "botar"?
"besar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,456 in our Spanish list, against #25,536 for "botar". 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 "besar" and "botar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "besar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "botar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #183,059 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "besar" and "botar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "botar vs Boyer". 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 #183,059 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