fugitivovsfurtivoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#22,707
“fugitivo” frequency rank
#47,821
“furtivo” frequency rank
70528
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fugitivo furtivo
Definition Que anda huyendo y escondiéndose. Que se hace a escondidas o de forma oculta.

Where the eye mixes fugitivo and furtivo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. fugitivo runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCV) against furtivo's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
fugitivo
7 ch
furtivo

Visual trap between fugitivo and furtivo

A purely visual mix-up. fugitivo ([fuxiˈt̪iβ̞o]) and furtivo ([fuɾˈt̪iβ̞o]) 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 70528, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fugitivo is recorded at frequency rank #22,707, classified as anadj, pronounced [fuxiˈt̪iβ̞o]. furtivo is at rank #47,821, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fuɾˈt̪iβ̞o].

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 70528, this pair ranks #29,489 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fugitivo vs furtivo

Shared letters: fiotuv. Private to "fugitivo": g. Private to "furtivo": r.

"fugitivo" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "furtivo" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fugitivo ← ffugitivo · fguitivo · fuggitivo · fugiitvo · fugitibo · fugitiov · fugitivvo · fugittivo
  • furtivo ← ffurtivo · frutivo · furitvo · furrtivo · furtibo · furtiov · furtivvo · furttivo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fugitivo" for "furtivo" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fuxiˈt̪iβ̞o] versus [fuɾˈt̪iβ̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fugitivo" or "furtivo"?
"fugitivo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,707 in our Spanish list, against #47,821 for "furtivo". 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 "fugitivo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "furtivo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #29,489 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fugitivo" and "furtivo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "furtivo vs furtivos". 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 #29,489 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