ocrevsotraWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#39,892
“ocre” frequency rank
#106
“otra” frequency rank
39998
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ocre otra
Definition Color amarillo oscuro, tirando ligeramente a café. Forma del femenino de otro.

Where the eye mixes ocre and otra

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
ocre
4 ch
otra

Look-alike desk: ocre vs otra

A purely visual mix-up. ocre ([ˈokɾe]) and otra ([ˈot̪ɾa]) 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 39998, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ocre is recorded at frequency rank #39,892, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈokɾe]. otra is at rank #106, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈot̪ɾa].

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 39998, this pair ranks #161,472 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ocre vs otra

Shared letters: or. Private to "ocre": ce. Private to "otra": at.

"ocre" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "otra" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ocreoccre · ocer · orce
  • otraorta · otar · otrra · ottra · tora

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ocre" for "otra" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈokɾe] versus [ˈot̪ɾa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ocre" or "otra"?
"otra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #106 in our Spanish list, against #39,892 for "ocre". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "ocre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "otra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #161,472 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ocre" and "otra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ocre 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 #161,472 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