Which to use
“engaña” is a verb and “engañosa” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,587
- “engaña” frequency rank
- #22,343
- “engañosa” frequency rank
- 36930
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | engaña | engañosa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de engañar. | Forma del femenino de engañoso. |
Where the eye mixes engaña and engañosa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. engaña runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against engañosa's 8 (VCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: engaña vs engañosa
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: engaña is [ẽŋˈgaɲa] while engañosa is [ẽŋgaˈɲosa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36930, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
engaña is recorded at frequency rank #14,587, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽŋˈgaɲa]. engañosa is at rank #22,343, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ẽŋgaˈɲosa].
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 36930, this pair ranks #178,027 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of engaña vs engañosa
Shared letters: aegnñ. Private to "engaña": -. Private to "engañosa": os.
"engaña" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "engañosa" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "engaña" for "engañosa" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "engaña" or "engañosa" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "engaña" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "engañosa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #178,027 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "engaña" and "engañosa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "engañosa vs engañosas". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #178,027 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.