Which to use
“extrañar” is a verb and “extraño” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,382
- “extrañar” frequency rank
- #1,289
- “extraño” frequency rank
- 9671
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | extrañar | extraño |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Apartar, privar a alguno del trato y comunicación que se tenía con él. | Dicho de una persona, que es ajeno a nuestra familia, grupo social, nación. |
Where the eye mixes extrañar and extraño
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. extrañar runs 8 letters (VCCCVCVC) against extraño's 7 (VCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between extrañar and extraño
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: extrañar is [ekst̪ɾaˈɲaɾ] while extraño is [eksˈt̪ɾaɲo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 9671, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
extrañar is recorded at frequency rank #8,382, classified as averb, pronounced [ekst̪ɾaˈɲaɾ]. extraño is at rank #1,289, tagged as anadj, pronounced [eksˈt̪ɾaɲo].
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 9671, this pair ranks #301,191 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of extrañar vs extraño
Shared letters: aertxñ. Private to "extrañar": -. Private to "extraño": o.
"extrañar" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC · "extraño" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "extrañar" for "extraño" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "extrañar" or "extraño" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "extrañar" and "extraño" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "extrañar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "extraño" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #301,191 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "extrañar" and "extraño" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "extrañan vs extrañar". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #301,191 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.