contagiadovscontagiarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#38,598
“contagiado” frequency rank
#36,996
“contagiar” frequency rank
75594
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contagiado contagiar
Definition Participio de contagiar o de contagiarse. Pasar un agente patógeno (como un virus o una infección) de algún ser vivo a otro; propagar una enfermedad por contagio.

Where the eye mixes contagiado and contagiar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. contagiado runs 10 letters (CVCCVCVVCV) against contagiar's 9 (CVCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
contagiado
9 ch
contagiar

Why the eye confuses contagiado with contagiar

A purely visual mix-up. contagiado ([kõn̪t̪aˈxjað̞o]) and contagiar ([kõn̪t̪aˈxjaɾ]) 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 75594, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contagiado is recorded at frequency rank #38,598, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪aˈxjað̞o]. contagiar is at rank #36,996, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪aˈxjaɾ].

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 75594, this pair ranks #19,237 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of contagiado vs contagiar

Shared letters: acginot. Private to "contagiado": d. Private to "contagiar": r.

"contagiado" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVVCV  ·  "contagiar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contagiadoccontagiado · cnotagiado · conatgiado · conntagiado · contagaido · contaggiado · contagiaddo · contagiaod
  • contagiarccontagiar · cnotagiar · conatgiar · conntagiar · contagair · contaggiar · contagiarr · contagira

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "contagiado" and "contagiar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪t̪aˈxjað̞o] versus [kõn̪t̪aˈxjaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "contagiado" or "contagiar" show up more?
"contagiar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,996 in our Spanish list, against #38,598 for "contagiado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "contagiado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contagiar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #19,237 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contagiado" and "contagiar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "consagrar vs contagiar". 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 #19,237 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