obviarvsodiarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#30,167
“obviar” frequency rank
#10,894
“odiar” frequency rank
41061
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obviar odiar
Definition Neutralizar o suprimir un obstáculo o inconveniente al ignorarlo, apartarlo, quitarlo etc. Sentir o experimentar emociones fuertes de rechazo, antipatía, aversión , deseos de destrucción o de mal para el objeto en cuestión.

Where the eye mixes obviar and odiar

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

6 ch
obviar
5 ch
odiar

Look-alike desk: obviar vs odiar

A purely visual mix-up. obviar ([oβ̞ˈbjaɾ]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41061, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obviar is recorded at frequency rank #30,167, classified as averb, pronounced [oβ̞ˈbjaɾ]. 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 41061, this pair ranks #155,708 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of obviar vs odiar

Shared letters: aior. Private to "obviar": bv. Private to "odiar": d.

"obviar" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC  ·  "odiar" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • obviar ← boviar · obbiar · obbviar · obivar · obvair · obviarr · obvira · obvviar
  • odiar ← doiar · odair · oddiar · odiarr · odira · oidar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "obviar" and "odiar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([oβ̞ˈbjaɾ] versus [oˈð̞jaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "obviar" or "odiar"?
"odiar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,894 in our Spanish list, against #30,167 for "obviar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "obviar" 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 #155,708 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "obviar" and "odiar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obviar vs obvios". 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 #155,708 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