elixirvsexigirWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#36,013
“elixir” frequency rank
#4,245
“exigir” frequency rank
40258
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature elixir exigir
Definition Licor compuesto de diferentes sustancias medicinales que se infunden en vino, aguardiente, alcohol. Cobrar, percibir, sacar a alguien por autoridad pública dinero u otra cosa.

Where the eye mixes elixir and exigir

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
elixir
6 ch
exigir

Look-alike desk: elixir vs exigir

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: elixir is [elikˈsiɾ] while exigir is [eksiˈxiɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40258, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

elixir is recorded at frequency rank #36,013, classified as anoun, pronounced [elikˈsiɾ]. exigir is at rank #4,245, tagged as averb, pronounced [eksiˈxiɾ].

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 40258, this pair ranks #160,069 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of elixir vs exigir

Shared letters: eirx. Private to "elixir": l. Private to "exigir": g.

"elixir" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "exigir" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • elixireilxir · eliixr · elixirr · elixri · elixxir · ellixir · elxiir · leixir
  • exigireixgir · exgiir · exiggir · exigirr · exigri · exiigr · exxigir · xeigir

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "elixir" for "exigir" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "elixir" is a noun and "exigir" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "elixir" or "exigir"?
"exigir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,245 in our Spanish list, against #36,013 for "elixir". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "elixir" and "exigir" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "elixir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "exigir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #160,069 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "elixir" and "exigir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Eligio vs elixir". 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 #160,069 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