empeñadosvsempujadosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#39,725
“empeñados” frequency rank
#47,764
“empujados” frequency rank
87489
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature empeñados empujados
Definition Forma del plural de empeñado, participio de empeñar o de empeñarse. Forma del plural de empujado, participio de empujar.

Where the eye mixes empeñados and empujados

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. empeñados and empujados follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
empeñados
9 ch
empujados

Visual trap between empeñados and empujados

A purely visual mix-up. empeñados ([ẽmpeˈɲað̞os]) and empujados ([ẽmpuˈxað̞os]) 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 87489, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

empeñados is recorded at frequency rank #39,725, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [ẽmpeˈɲað̞os]. empujados is at rank #47,764, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [ẽmpuˈxað̞os].

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 87489, this pair ranks #4,451 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of empeñados vs empujados

Shared letters: ademops. Private to "empeñados": ñ. Private to "empujados": ju.

"empeñados" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC  ·  "empujados" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • empujadosemmpujados · empjuados · emppujados · empuajdos · empujaddos · empujadoss · empujadso · empujaods

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "empeñados" and "empujados" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ẽmpeˈɲað̞os] versus [ẽmpuˈxað̞os]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "empeñados" or "empujados"?
"empeñados" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,725 in our Spanish list, against #47,764 for "empujados". 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 "empeñados" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "empujados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #4,451 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "empeñados" and "empujados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empujada vs empujados". 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 #4,451 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