Which to use
“colado” and “cortado” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,945
- “colado” frequency rank
- #8,360
- “cortado” frequency rank
- 34305
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | colado | cortado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sustancia pasada a través de un colador. | Se dice de la persona de carácter tímido y retraído. |
Where the eye mixes colado and cortado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. colado runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against cortado's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: colado vs cortado
A purely visual mix-up. colado ([koˈlað̞o]) and cortado ([koɾˈt̪að̞o]) 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 34305, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
colado is recorded at frequency rank #25,945, classified as anadj, pronounced [koˈlað̞o]. cortado is at rank #8,360, tagged as anadj, pronounced [koɾˈt̪að̞o].
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 34305, this pair ranks #192,192 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of colado vs cortado
Shared letters: acdo. Private to "colado": l. Private to "cortado": rt.
"colado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "cortado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "colado" for "cortado" ever safe?
Frequency check: "colado" vs "cortado" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "colado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cortado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #192,192 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "colado" and "cortado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "codazo vs colado". 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 #192,192 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.