burlarvsburlarseTell them apart

Which to use

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

#24,406
“burlar” frequency rank
#16,029
“burlarse” frequency rank
40435
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature burlar burlarse
Definition Engañar, mentir a alguien. Burlar (uso pronominal de ...)

Where the eye mixes burlar and burlarse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. burlar runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against burlarse's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
burlar
8 ch
burlarse

Visual trap between burlar and burlarse

A purely visual mix-up. burlar ([buɾˈlaɾ]) and burlarse ([buɾˈlaɾse]) 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) - “burlar” sits inside “burlarse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40435, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

burlar is recorded at frequency rank #24,406, classified as averb, pronounced [buɾˈlaɾ]. burlarse is at rank #16,029, tagged as averb, pronounced [buɾˈlaɾse].

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 40435, this pair ranks #159,095 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of burlar vs burlarse

Shared letters: ablru. Private to "burlar": -. Private to "burlarse": es.

"burlar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "burlarse" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • burlar ← bburlar · brular · bulrar · buralr · burlarr · burllar · burlra · burrlar
  • burlarse ← bburlarse · brularse · bulrarse · buralrse · burlarce · burlares · burlarrse · burlarsse

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "burlar" and "burlarse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([buɾˈlaɾ] versus [buɾˈlaɾse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "burlar" or "burlarse"?
"burlarse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,029 in our Spanish list, against #24,406 for "burlar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "burlar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "burlarse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #159,095 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "burlar" and "burlarse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "burlar vs burlen". 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 #159,095 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