obrarvsodiarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#28,474
“obrar” frequency rank
#10,894
“odiar” frequency rank
39368
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obrar odiar
Definition Ejecutar una acción, hacer algo. Sentir o experimentar emociones fuertes de rechazo, antipatía, aversión , deseos de destrucción o de mal para el objeto en cuestión.

Where the eye mixes obrar and odiar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
obrar
5 ch
odiar

Look-alike desk: obrar vs odiar

A purely visual mix-up. obrar ([oˈβ̞ɾaɾ]) and odiar ([oˈð̞jaɾ]) 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 39368, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obrar is recorded at frequency rank #28,474, classified as averb, pronounced [oˈβ̞ɾaɾ]. odiar is at rank #10,894, tagged as averb, pronounced [oˈð̞jaɾ].

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 39368, this pair ranks #164,887 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of obrar vs odiar

Shared letters: aor. Private to "obrar": b. Private to "odiar": di.

"obrar" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "odiar" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • obrarobarr · obbrar · obrarr · ovrar
  • odiardoiar · odair · oddiar · odiarr · odira · oidar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "obrar" and "odiar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([oˈβ̞ɾaɾ] versus [oˈð̞jaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "obrar" or "odiar" show up more?
"odiar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,894 in our Spanish list, against #28,474 for "obrar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "obrar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "odiar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #164,887 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "obrar" and "odiar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obrar vs oirá". 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 #164,887 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