contraseñavscontraseñasWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: contraseña is a noun, contraseñas is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“contraseña” is a noun and “contraseñas” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,125
“contraseña” frequency rank
#16,800
“contraseñas” frequency rank
23925
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contraseña contraseñas
Definition Signo, especialmente verbal, que identifica a alguno como autorizado a acceder a ciertos lugares, recursos o servicios. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de contraseñar.

Where the eye mixes contraseña and contraseñas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. contraseña runs 10 letters (CVCCCVCVCV) against contraseñas's 11 (CVCCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
contraseña
11 ch
contraseñas

Look-alike desk: contraseña vs contraseñas

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contraseña is [kõn̪t̪ɾaˈseɲa] while contraseñas is [kõn̪t̪ɾaˈseɲas]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “contraseña” sits inside “contraseñas”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23925, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contraseña is recorded at frequency rank #7,125, classified as anoun, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾaˈseɲa]. contraseñas is at rank #16,800, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾaˈseɲas].

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 23925, this pair ranks #243,539 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contraseña vs contraseñas

Shared letters: acenorstñ. Private to "contraseña": -. Private to "contraseñas": -.

"contraseña" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCV  ·  "contraseñas" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "contraseña" and "contraseñas" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "contraseña" is a noun and "contraseñas" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "contraseña" or "contraseñas"?
"contraseña" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,125 in our Spanish list, against #16,800 for "contraseñas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "contraseña" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contraseñas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #243,539 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contraseña" and "contraseñas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contraseña vs contraten". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #243,539 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