frustradovsfrustrarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,049
“frustrado” frequency rank
#38,134
“frustrar” frequency rank
51183
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature frustrado frustrar
Definition Participio de frustrar. Estropear o conseguir que algo no salga bien.

Where the eye mixes frustrado and frustrar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. frustrado runs 9 letters (CCVCCCVCV) against frustrar's 8 (CCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
frustrado
8 ch
frustrar

Why the eye confuses frustrado with frustrar

A purely visual mix-up. frustrado ([fɾusˈt̪ɾað̞o]) and frustrar ([fɾusˈt̪ɾaɾ]) 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 51183, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

frustrado is recorded at frequency rank #13,049, classified as averb, pronounced [fɾusˈt̪ɾað̞o]. frustrar is at rank #38,134, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɾusˈt̪ɾaɾ].

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 51183, this pair ranks #99,199 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of frustrado vs frustrar

Shared letters: afrstu. Private to "frustrado": do. Private to "frustrar": -.

"frustrado" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCCVCV  ·  "frustrar" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • frustrado ← ffrustrado · frrustrado · frsutrado · frusrtado · frusstrado · frustardo · frustraddo · frustraod
  • frustrar ← ffrustrar · frrustrar · frsutrar · frusrtar · frusstrar · frustarr · frustrarr · frustrrar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "frustrado" and "frustrar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɾusˈt̪ɾað̞o] versus [fɾusˈt̪ɾaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "frustrado" vs "frustrar" - which ranks higher?
"frustrado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,049 in our Spanish list, against #38,134 for "frustrar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "frustrado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "frustrar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #99,199 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "frustrado" and "frustrar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "frustrar vs frustró". 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 #99,199 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