Which to use
“ébano” is a noun and “ebrio” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,219
- “ébano” frequency rank
- #17,415
- “ebrio” frequency rank
- 59634
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ébano | ebrio |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (Diospyros ebenum) árbol de hasta 25 m. de altura, perteneciente a la familia de las ebenáceas, originario de India y de Sri Lanka, caracterizado por un tronco de madera muy maciza, pesada, lisa, blanquecina hacia la corteza y muy negra por el centro. | Que se encuentra bajo los efectos del alcohol. |
Where the eye mixes ébano and ebrio
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ébano (VCVCV) and ebrio (VCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between ébano and ebrio
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ébano is [ˈeβ̞ano] while ebrio is [ˈeβ̞ɾjo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59634, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ébano is recorded at frequency rank #42,219, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈeβ̞ano]. ebrio is at rank #17,415, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeβ̞ɾjo].
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 59634, this pair ranks #61,903 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ébano vs ebrio
Shared letters: bo. Private to "ébano": ané. Private to "ebrio": eir.
"ébano" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "ebrio" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- ebrio ← berio · ebbrio · ebiro · ebroi · ebrrio · erbio · evrio
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ébano" for "ebrio" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ébano" or "ebrio" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ébano" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ebrio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #61,903 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ébano" and "ebrio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ébano vs Elcano". 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 #61,903 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.