loteríavsloteríasTell them apart

Which to use

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

#9,676
“lotería” frequency rank
#47,919
“loterías” frequency rank
57595
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lotería loterías
Definition Sorteo que se hace de dinero u objetos autorizado públicamente. Forma del plural de lotería.

Where the eye mixes lotería and loterías

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

7 ch
lotería
8 ch
loterías

Look-alike desk: lotería vs loterías

A purely visual mix-up. lotería ([lot̪eˈɾia]) and loterías ([lot̪eˈɾias]) 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 extra letter(s) - “lotería” sits inside “loterías”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57595, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lotería is recorded at frequency rank #9,676, classified as anoun, pronounced [lot̪eˈɾia]. loterías is at rank #47,919, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lot̪eˈɾias].

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 57595, this pair ranks #69,866 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lotería vs loterías

Shared letters: aelortí. Private to "lotería": -. Private to "loterías": s.

"lotería" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "loterías" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lotería" for "loterías" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([lot̪eˈɾia] versus [lot̪eˈɾias]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "lotería" or "loterías" show up more?
"lotería" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,676 in our Spanish list, against #47,919 for "loterías". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "lotería" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "loterías" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #69,866 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lotería" and "loterías" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "literas vs loterías". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #69,866 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