Which to use
“naufragio” is a noun and “náufrago” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,028
- “naufragio” frequency rank
- #48,562
- “náufrago” frequency rank
- 66590
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | naufragio | náufrago |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dícese del hecho de naufragar, cuando una embarcación pierde lo que tenía. | Víctima de un naufragio, que lucha por salvarse o que se ha salvado cuando se hunde una nave. |
Where the eye mixes naufragio and náufrago
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. naufragio runs 9 letters (CVVCCVCVV) against náufrago's 8 (CVVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between naufragio and náufrago
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: naufragio is [nawˈfɾaxjo] while náufrago is [ˈnawfɾaɣ̞o]. 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 66590, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
naufragio is recorded at frequency rank #18,028, classified as anoun, pronounced [nawˈfɾaxjo]. náufrago is at rank #48,562, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈnawfɾaɣ̞o].
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 66590, this pair ranks #39,471 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of naufragio vs náufrago
Shared letters: afgnoru. Private to "naufragio": i. Private to "náufrago": á.
"naufragio" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCVV · "náufrago" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- naufragio ← anufragio · nafuragio · naufargio · nauffragio · naufraggio · naufragoi · naufraigo · naufrgaio
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "naufragio" for "náufrago" ever safe?
Which is more common, "naufragio" or "náufrago"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "naufragio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "náufrago" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #39,471 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "naufragio" and "náufrago" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "naufragios vs náufrago". 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 #39,471 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.