completadovscomplicadoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#12,340
“completado” frequency rank
#2,971
“complicado” frequency rank
15311
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature completado complicado
Definition Participio de completar. Participio de complicar.

Where the eye mixes completado and complicado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. completado and complicado follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
completado
10 ch
complicado

Why the eye confuses completado with complicado

A purely visual mix-up. completado ([kõmpleˈt̪að̞o]) and complicado ([kõmpliˈkað̞o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15311, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

completado is recorded at frequency rank #12,340, classified as averb, pronounced [kõmpleˈt̪að̞o]. complicado is at rank #2,971, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõmpliˈkað̞o].

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 15311, this pair ranks #280,684 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of completado vs complicado

Shared letters: acdlmop. Private to "completado": et. Private to "complicado": i.

"completado" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCV  ·  "complicado" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • completado ← ccompletado · cmopletado · comlpetado · commpletado · compeltado · compleatdo · completaddo · completaod
  • complicado ← ccomplicado · cmoplicado · comlpicado · commplicado · compilcado · complciado · compliacdo · complicaddo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "completado" and "complicado" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõmpleˈt̪að̞o] versus [kõmpliˈkað̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "completado" or "complicado"?
"complicado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,971 in our Spanish list, against #12,340 for "completado". 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 "completado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "complicado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #280,684 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "completado" and "complicado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "competido vs completado". 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 #280,684 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