canceladovscancelarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#12,320
“cancelado” frequency rank
#7,111
“cancelar” frequency rank
19431
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cancelado cancelar
Definition Participio de cancelar. Anular, deshacer una orden.

Where the eye mixes cancelado and cancelar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. cancelado runs 9 letters (CVCCVCVCV) against cancelar's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
cancelado
8 ch
cancelar

Why the eye confuses cancelado with cancelar

A purely visual mix-up. cancelado ([kãnseˈlað̞o]) and cancelar ([kãnseˈlaɾ]) 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 19431, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cancelado is recorded at frequency rank #12,320, classified as averb, pronounced [kãnseˈlað̞o]. cancelar is at rank #7,111, tagged as averb, pronounced [kãnseˈlaɾ].

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 19431, this pair ranks #263,781 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cancelado vs cancelar

Shared letters: aceln. Private to "cancelado": do. Private to "cancelar": r.

"cancelado" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV  ·  "cancelar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cancelado ← acncelado · cacnelado · canccelado · cancealdo · canceladdo · cancelaod · canceldao · cancellado
  • cancelar ← acncelar · cacnelar · canccelar · cancealr · cancelarr · cancellar · cancelra · canclear

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cancelado" and "cancelar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kãnseˈlað̞o] versus [kãnseˈlaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cancelado" or "cancelar"?
"cancelar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,111 in our Spanish list, against #12,320 for "cancelado". 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 "cancelado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cancelar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #263,781 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cancelado" and "cancelar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cancelado vs cancelando". 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 #263,781 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