fríovsfritoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,729
“frío” frequency rank
#13,252
“frito” frequency rank
14981
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature frío frito
Definition De temperatura inferior a la normal. Que ha sido cocinado en aceite hirviendo, manteca o grasa muy caliente.

Where the eye mixes frío and frito

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
frío
5 ch
frito

Why the eye confuses frío with frito

A purely visual mix-up. frío ([ˈfɾio]) and frito ([ˈfɾit̪o]) 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 14981, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

frío is recorded at frequency rank #1,729, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɾio]. frito is at rank #13,252, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɾit̪o].

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 14981, this pair ranks #281,966 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of frío vs frito

Shared letters: for. Private to "frío": í. Private to "frito": it.

"frío" · 4 letters · shape CCVV  ·  "frito" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fritoffrito · firto · friot · fritto · frrito · frtio · rfito

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "frío" for "frito" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɾio] versus [ˈfɾit̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "frío" or "frito"?
"frío" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,729 in our Spanish list, against #13,252 for "frito". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "frío" and "frito" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "frío" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "frito" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #281,966 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "frío" and "frito" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "friso vs frito". 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 #281,966 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