insultarvsinsultesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,274
“insultar” frequency rank
#49,081
“insultes” frequency rank
57355
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature insultar insultes
Definition Decir cosas obscenas o malsonantes dirigidas a alguien. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de insultar.

Where the eye mixes insultar and insultes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
insultar
8 ch
insultes

Why the eye confuses insultar with insultes

A purely visual mix-up. insultar ([ĩnsul̪ˈt̪aɾ]) and insultes ([ĩnˈsul̪t̪es]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57355, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

insultar is recorded at frequency rank #8,274, classified as averb, pronounced [ĩnsul̪ˈt̪aɾ]. insultes is at rank #49,081, tagged as averb, pronounced [ĩnˈsul̪t̪es].

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 57355, this pair ranks #70,819 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of insultar vs insultes

Shared letters: ilnstu. Private to "insultar": ar. Private to "insultes": e.

"insultar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "insultes" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • insultarinnsultar · inslutar · inssultar · insulatr · insulltar · insultarr · insultra · insulttar
  • insultesinnsultes · inslutes · inssultes · insulets · insulltes · insultess · insultse · insulttes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "insultar" for "insultes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ĩnsul̪ˈt̪aɾ] versus [ĩnˈsul̪t̪es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "insultar" vs "insultes" - which ranks higher?
"insultar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,274 in our Spanish list, against #49,081 for "insultes". 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 "insultar" and "insultes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "insultar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "insultes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #70,819 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "insultar" and "insultes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "insulten vs insultes". 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 #70,819 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