obesovsobtusoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#33,251
“obeso” frequency rank
#43,747
“obtuso” frequency rank
76998
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obeso obtuso
Definition Dícese de la persona que tiene gordura en demasía. Que no tiene punta.

Where the eye mixes obeso and obtuso

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. obeso runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against obtuso's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
obeso
6 ch
obtuso

Look-alike desk: obeso vs obtuso

A purely visual mix-up. obeso ([oˈβ̞eso]) and obtuso ([oβ̞ˈt̪uso]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76998, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obeso is recorded at frequency rank #33,251, classified as anadj, pronounced [oˈβ̞eso]. obtuso is at rank #43,747, tagged as anadj, pronounced [oβ̞ˈt̪uso].

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 76998, this pair ranks #16,767 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of obeso vs obtuso

Shared letters: bos. Private to "obeso": e. Private to "obtuso": tu.

"obeso" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "obtuso" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • obeso ← boeso · obbeso · obeos · obesso · obseo · oebso · oveso
  • obtuso ← botuso · obbtuso · obtsuo · obttuso · obtuos · obtusso · obutso · otbuso

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "obeso" for "obtuso" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([oˈβ̞eso] versus [oβ̞ˈt̪uso]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "obeso" vs "obtuso" - which ranks higher?
"obeso" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,251 in our Spanish list, against #43,747 for "obtuso". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "obeso" and "obtuso" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "obeso" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "obtuso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #16,767 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "obeso" and "obtuso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obesa vs obeso". 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 #16,767 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