enfriadovsenfriarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#45,294
“enfriado” frequency rank
#24,140
“enfriar” frequency rank
69434
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature enfriado enfriar
Definition Participio de enfriar o de enfriarse. Poner o hacer que se ponga fría una cosa.

Where the eye mixes enfriado and enfriar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. enfriado runs 8 letters (VCCCVVCV) against enfriar's 7 (VCCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
enfriado
7 ch
enfriar

Look-alike desk: enfriado vs enfriar

A purely visual mix-up. enfriado ([ẽɱˈfɾjað̞o]) and enfriar ([ẽɱˈfɾjaɾ]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69434, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

enfriado is recorded at frequency rank #45,294, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽɱˈfɾjað̞o]. enfriar is at rank #24,140, tagged as averb, pronounced [ẽɱˈfɾjaɾ].

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 69434, this pair ranks #31,991 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of enfriado vs enfriar

Shared letters: aefinr. Private to "enfriado": do. Private to "enfriar": -.

"enfriado" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVVCV  ·  "enfriar" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • enfriadoefnriado · enffriado · enfirado · enfraido · enfriaddo · enfriaod · enfridao · enfrriado
  • enfriarefnriar · enffriar · enfirar · enfrair · enfriarr · enfrira · enfrriar · ennfriar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "enfriado" and "enfriar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ẽɱˈfɾjað̞o] versus [ẽɱˈfɾjaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "enfriado" or "enfriar"?
"enfriar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,140 in our Spanish list, against #45,294 for "enfriado". 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 "enfriado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "enfriar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #31,991 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "enfriado" and "enfriar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enfría vs enfriado". 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 #31,991 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