botónvsbuttonWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,860
“botón” frequency rank
#38,542
“button” frequency rank
43402
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature botón button
Definition Pieza que, inserta en un ojal, se utiliza para abrochar o adornar una prenda de vestir u otro artefacto. Botón.

Where the eye mixes botón and button

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

5 ch
botón
6 ch
button

Look-alike desk: botón vs button

A purely visual mix-up. botón ([boˈt̪õn]) and button (/ˈbʌt.ən/) 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 43402, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

botón is recorded at frequency rank #4,860, classified as anoun, pronounced [boˈt̪õn]. button is at rank #38,542, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbʌt.ən/.

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 43402, this pair ranks #142,841 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of botón vs button

Shared letters: bnot. Private to "botón": ó. Private to "button": u.

"botón" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "button" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • buttonbbutton · btuton · buton · butotn · buttno · buttonn · ubtton · vutton

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "botón" for "button" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([boˈt̪õn] versus /ˈbʌt.ən/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "botón" or "button"?
"botón" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,860 in our Spanish list, against #38,542 for "button". 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 "botón" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "button" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #142,841 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "botón" and "button" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "butt vs button". 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 #142,841 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