Which to use
“delegar” and “denegar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,564
- “delegar” frequency rank
- #43,501
- “denegar” frequency rank
- 71065
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | delegar | denegar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Traspasar la responsabilidad de un cargo o una decisión de una persona a otra. | No conceder lo que se pide o solicita. |
Where the eye mixes delegar and denegar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. delegar and denegar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: delegar vs denegar
A purely visual mix-up. delegar ([d̪eleˈɣ̞aɾ]) and denegar ([d̪eneˈɣ̞aɾ]) 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 a single letter - l in “delegar” becomes n in “denegar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71065, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
delegar is recorded at frequency rank #27,564, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eleˈɣ̞aɾ]. denegar is at rank #43,501, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eneˈɣ̞aɾ].
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 71065, this pair ranks #28,302 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of delegar vs denegar
Shared letters: adegr. Private to "delegar": l. Private to "denegar": n.
"delegar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "denegar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "delegar" and "denegar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "delegar" vs "denegar" - which ranks higher?
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 "delegar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "denegar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #28,302 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "delegar" and "denegar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "denegar vs develar". 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 #28,302 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.