Which to use
“contagio” is a noun and “contagiosa” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,060
- “contagio” frequency rank
- #25,193
- “contagiosa” frequency rank
- 41253
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contagio | contagiosa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Acción o efecto de contagiar (transmitir un agente patógeno). | Forma del femenino de contagioso. |
Where the eye mixes contagio and contagiosa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. contagio runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVV) against contagiosa's 10 (CVCCVCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses contagio with contagiosa
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contagio is [kõn̪ˈt̪axjo] while contagiosa is [kõn̪t̪aˈxjosa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “contagio” sits inside “contagiosa”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41253, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contagio is recorded at frequency rank #16,060, classified as anoun, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪axjo]. contagiosa is at rank #25,193, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kõn̪t̪aˈxjosa].
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 41253, this pair ranks #154,663 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of contagio vs contagiosa
Shared letters: acginot. Private to "contagio": -. Private to "contagiosa": s.
"contagio" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV · "contagiosa" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- contagio ← ccontagio · cnotagio · conatgio · conntagio · contaggio · contagoi · contaigo · contgaio
- contagiosa ← ccontagiosa · cnotagiosa · conatgiosa · conntagiosa · contaggiosa · contagioas · contagiossa · contagisoa
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "contagio" for "contagiosa" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "contagio" or "contagiosa" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "contagio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contagiosa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #154,663 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contagio" and "contagiosa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contagiosa vs contagioso". 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 #154,663 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.