Which to use
“carece” is a verb and “carrete” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,114
- “carece” frequency rank
- #28,671
- “carrete” frequency rank
- 35785
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | carece | carrete |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de carecer. | Cilindro hueco de bordes levantados destinado a enrollar en él hilos, alambres, cordeles u otros elementos filiformes o laminados. |
Where the eye mixes carece and carrete
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. carece runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against carrete's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: carece vs carrete
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: carece is [kaˈɾese] while carrete is [kaˈret̪e]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35785, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
carece is recorded at frequency rank #7,114, classified as averb, pronounced [kaˈɾese]. carrete is at rank #28,671, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaˈret̪e].
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 35785, this pair ranks #184,180 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of carece vs carrete
Shared letters: acer. Private to "carece": -. Private to "carrete": t.
"carece" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "carrete" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "carece" for "carrete" ever safe?
Which is more common, "carece" or "carrete"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "carece" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "carrete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #184,180 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "carece" and "carrete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cachete vs carrete". 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 #184,180 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.