criticadavscriticarTell them apart

Quick tell: criticada is a participle, criticar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“criticada” is a participle and “criticar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,314
“criticada” frequency rank
#4,492
“criticar” frequency rank
26806
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature criticada criticar
Definition Forma del femenino de criticado, participio de criticar. Juzgar o valorar una cosa atendiendo a un conjunto de reglas establecidas.

Where the eye mixes criticada and criticar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. criticada runs 9 letters (CCVCVCVCV) against criticar's 8 (CCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
criticada
8 ch
criticar

Look-alike desk: criticada vs criticar

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: criticada is [kɾit̪iˈkað̞a] while criticar is [kɾit̪iˈkaɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26806, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

criticada is recorded at frequency rank #22,314, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [kɾit̪iˈkað̞a]. criticar is at rank #4,492, tagged as averb, pronounced [kɾit̪iˈkaɾ].

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 26806, this pair ranks #229,856 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of criticada vs criticar

Shared letters: acirt. Private to "criticada": d. Private to "criticar": -.

"criticada" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCV  ·  "criticar" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • criticada ← ccriticada · cirticada · criitcada · critciada · critiacda · criticaad · criticadda · criticcada
  • criticar ← ccriticar · cirticar · criitcar · critciar · critiacr · criticarr · criticcar · criticra

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "criticada" and "criticar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "criticada" is a participle and "criticar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "criticada" or "criticar"?
"criticar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,492 in our Spanish list, against #22,314 for "criticada". 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 "criticada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "criticar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #229,856 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "criticada" and "criticar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "criticada vs critical". 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 #229,856 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