Which to use
“contraído” and “contrajo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,398
- “contraído” frequency rank
- #19,968
- “contrajo” frequency rank
- 50366
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contraído | contrajo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participio de contraer o de contraerse. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de contraer o de contraerse. |
Where the eye mixes contraído and contrajo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: contraído vs contrajo
A purely visual mix-up. contraído ([kõn̪t̪ɾaˈið̞o]) and contrajo ([kõn̪ˈt̪ɾaxo]) 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 50366, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contraído is recorded at frequency rank #30,398, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾaˈið̞o]. contrajo is at rank #19,968, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾaxo].
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 50366, this pair ranks #103,595 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of contraído vs contrajo
Shared letters: acnort. Private to "contraído": dí. Private to "contrajo": j.
"contraído" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVVCV · "contrajo" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- contrajo ← ccontrajo · cnotrajo · conntrajo · conrtajo · contarjo · contrajjo · contraoj · contrjao
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "contraído" for "contrajo" ever safe?
Which is more common, "contraído" or "contrajo"?
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 "contraído" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contrajo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #103,595 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contraído" and "contrajo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "centrando vs contraído". 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 #103,595 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.