denegarvsderogarTell them apart

Which to use

“denegar” and “derogar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#43,501
“denegar” frequency rank
#23,019
“derogar” frequency rank
66520
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature denegar derogar
Definition No conceder lo que se pide o solicita. Abolir, dejar sin vigencia o modificar una ley, norma o precepto establecido, a menudo reemplazándolos con una orden nueva.

Where the eye mixes denegar and derogar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
denegar
7 ch
derogar

Why the eye confuses denegar with derogar

A purely visual mix-up. denegar ([d̪eneˈɣ̞aɾ]) and derogar ([d̪eɾoˈɣ̞aɾ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66520, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

denegar is recorded at frequency rank #43,501, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eneˈɣ̞aɾ]. derogar is at rank #23,019, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eɾoˈɣ̞aɾ].

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 66520, this pair ranks #39,649 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of denegar vs derogar

Shared letters: adegr. Private to "denegar": n. Private to "derogar": o.

"denegar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "derogar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • denegarddenegar · deengar · deneagr · denegarr · deneggar · denegra · dengear · dennegar
  • derogardderogar · deorgar · dergoar · deroagr · derogarr · deroggar · derogra · derrogar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "denegar" and "derogar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eneˈɣ̞aɾ] versus [d̪eɾoˈɣ̞aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "denegar" vs "derogar" - which ranks higher?
"derogar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,019 in our Spanish list, against #43,501 for "denegar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "denegar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "derogar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #39,649 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "denegar" and "derogar" 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 #39,649 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