exactovsexactosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,713
“exacto” frequency rank
#15,371
“exactos” frequency rank
18084
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature exacto exactos
Definition Puntual, fiel y cabal. Forma del plural de exacto.

Where the eye mixes exacto and exactos

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

6 ch
exacto
7 ch
exactos

Why the eye confuses exacto with exactos

A purely visual mix-up. exacto ([ekˈsakt̪o]) and exactos ([ekˈsakt̪os]) 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 extra letter(s) - “exacto” sits inside “exactos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18084, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

exacto is recorded at frequency rank #2,713, classified as anadj, pronounced [ekˈsakt̪o]. exactos is at rank #15,371, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ekˈsakt̪os].

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 18084, this pair ranks #269,394 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of exacto vs exactos

Shared letters: aceotx. Private to "exacto": -. Private to "exactos": s.

"exacto" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "exactos" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • exacto ← eaxcto · exaccto · exacot · exactto · exatco · excato · exxacto · xeacto
  • exactos ← eaxctos · exacctos · exacots · exactoss · exactso · exacttos · exatcos · excatos

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "exacto" for "exactos" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ekˈsakt̪o] versus [ekˈsakt̪os]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "exacto" or "exactos" show up more?
"exacto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,713 in our Spanish list, against #15,371 for "exactos". 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 "exacto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "exactos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #269,394 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "exacto" and "exactos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erecto vs exacto". 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 #269,394 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