etílicovsétnicoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#49,004
“etílico” frequency rank
#14,742
“étnico” frequency rank
63746
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature etílico étnico
Definition Que pertenece o concierne al éter. Propio o relacionado con la raza o con grupos de personas que comparten una cultura, una lengua, una región, una religión, etc.

Where the eye mixes etílico and étnico

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. etílico runs 7 letters (VCVCVCV) against étnico's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
etílico
6 ch
étnico

Look-alike desk: etílico vs étnico

A purely visual mix-up. etílico ([eˈt̪iliko]) and étnico ([ˈet̪niko]) 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 63746, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

etílico is recorded at frequency rank #49,004, classified as anadj, pronounced [eˈt̪iliko]. étnico is at rank #14,742, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈet̪niko].

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 63746, this pair ranks #47,756 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of etílico vs étnico

Shared letters: ciot. Private to "etílico": elí. Private to "étnico": né.

"etílico" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV  ·  "étnico" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "etílico" and "étnico" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([eˈt̪iliko] versus [ˈet̪niko]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "etílico" or "étnico"?
"étnico" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,742 in our Spanish list, against #49,004 for "etílico". 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 "etílico" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "étnico" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #47,756 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "etílico" and "étnico" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eólico vs etílico". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #47,756 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