histeriavshistéricaTell them apart

Quick tell: histeria is a noun, histérica is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“histeria” is a noun and “histérica” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,070
“histeria” frequency rank
#23,809
“histérica” frequency rank
43879
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature histeria histérica
Definition Padecimiento nervioso de la mujer, caracterizado principalmente por convulsiones y sofocación. Forma del femenino de histérico.

Where the eye mixes histeria and histérica

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

8 ch
histeria
9 ch
histérica

Visual trap between histeria and histérica

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: histeria is [isˈt̪eɾja] while histérica is [isˈt̪eɾika]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43879, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

histeria is recorded at frequency rank #20,070, classified as anoun, pronounced [isˈt̪eɾja]. histérica is at rank #23,809, tagged as anadj, pronounced [isˈt̪eɾika].

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 43879, this pair ranks #140,164 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of histeria vs histérica

Shared letters: ahirst. Private to "histeria": e. Private to "histérica": cé.

"histeria" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV  ·  "histérica" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • histeria ← hhisteria · hisetria · hissteria · histeira · histerai · histerria · histreia · histteria

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "histeria" and "histérica" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "histeria" is a noun and "histérica" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "histeria" or "histérica" show up more?
"histeria" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,070 in our Spanish list, against #23,809 for "histérica". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "histeria" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "histérica" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #140,164 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "histeria" and "histérica" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "histérica vs histéricos". 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 #140,164 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