contornovscontornosTell them apart

Which to use

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

#17,087
“contorno” frequency rank
#34,522
“contornos” frequency rank
51609
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contorno contornos
Definition Líneas, o línea, que limitan la superficie de una figura, cuerpo u otra composición. Forma del plural de contorno

Where the eye mixes contorno and contornos

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

8 ch
contorno
9 ch
contornos

Why the eye confuses contorno with contornos

A purely visual mix-up. contorno ([kõn̪ˈt̪oɾno]) and contornos ([kõn̪ˈt̪oɾnos]) 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 extra letter(s) - “contorno” sits inside “contornos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51609, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contorno is recorded at frequency rank #17,087, classified as anoun, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪oɾno]. contornos is at rank #34,522, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪oɾnos].

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 51609, this pair ranks #97,036 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contorno vs contornos

Shared letters: cnort. Private to "contorno": -. Private to "contornos": s.

"contorno" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "contornos" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contorno ← ccontorno · cnotorno · conntorno · conotrno · contonro · contornno · contoron · contorrno
  • contornos ← ccontornos · cnotornos · conntornos · conotrnos · contonros · contornnos · contornoss · contornso

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "contorno" and "contornos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪ˈt̪oɾno] versus [kõn̪ˈt̪oɾnos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "contorno" or "contornos"?
"contorno" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,087 in our Spanish list, against #34,522 for "contornos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "contorno" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contornos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #97,036 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contorno" and "contornos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "conformo vs contorno". 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 #97,036 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