Which to use
“insultar” is a verb and “insultos” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,274
- “insultar” frequency rank
- #6,424
- “insultos” frequency rank
- 14698
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | insultar | insultos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Decir cosas obscenas o malsonantes dirigidas a alguien. | Forma del plural de insulto. |
Where the eye mixes insultar and insultos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. insultar and insultos follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses insultar with insultos
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: insultar is [ĩnsul̪ˈt̪aɾ] while insultos is [ĩnˈsul̪t̪os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14698, 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]. insultos is at rank #6,424, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ĩnˈsul̪t̪os].
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 14698, this pair ranks #283,111 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of insultar vs insultos
Shared letters: ilnstu. Private to "insultar": ar. Private to "insultos": o.
"insultar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "insultos" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "insultar" and "insultos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "insultar" or "insultos" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "insultar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "insultos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #283,111 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "insultar" and "insultos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "insultar 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 #283,111 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.