defraudadovsdegradadoConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#31,303
“defraudado” frequency rank
#28,320
“degradado” frequency rank
59623
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature defraudado degradado
Definition Participio de defraudar. Acción o efecto de degradar.

Where the eye mixes defraudado and degradado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. defraudado runs 10 letters (CVCCVVCVCV) against degradado's 9 (CVCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
defraudado
9 ch
degradado

Why the eye confuses defraudado with degradado

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: defraudado is [d̪efɾawˈð̞að̞o] while degradado is [d̪eɣ̞ɾaˈð̞að̞o]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59623, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

defraudado is recorded at frequency rank #31,303, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪efɾawˈð̞að̞o]. degradado is at rank #28,320, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪eɣ̞ɾaˈð̞að̞o].

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 59623, this pair ranks #61,943 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of defraudado vs degradado

Shared letters: adeor. Private to "defraudado": fu. Private to "degradado": g.

"defraudado" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCV  ·  "degradado" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • defraudado ← ddefraudado · defarudado · deffraudado · defraduado · defrauaddo · defraudaddo · defraudaod · defrauddado
  • degradado ← ddegradado · degardado · deggradado · degraaddo · degradaddo · degradaod · degraddado · degraddao

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "defraudado" and "degradado" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "defraudado" is a verb and "degradado" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "defraudado" or "degradado" show up more?
"degradado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,320 in our Spanish list, against #31,303 for "defraudado". 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 "defraudado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "degradado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #61,943 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "defraudado" and "degradado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "degradado vs depravado". 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 #61,943 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