rabiavsrascaConfusable pair

Quick tell: rabia is a noun, rasca is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“rabia” is a noun and “rasca” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,374
“rabia” frequency rank
#33,805
“rasca” frequency rank
38179
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rabia rasca
Definition Enfermedad infecciosa del sistema nervioso, producida por un virus que provoca una encefalitis aguda que resulta fatal, salvo que se trate antes de la aparición de los síntomas en el período inmediatamente posterior a la infección. Afecta a varias especies de animales, en especial carnívoros y roedores, y al ser humano, y en muchos países es una causa importante de muertes. Dicho de una cosa, de muy mala calidad.

Where the eye mixes rabia and rasca

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. rabia (CVCVV) and rasca (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
rabia
5 ch
rasca

Visual trap between rabia and rasca

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rabia is [ˈraβ̞ja] while rasca is [ˈraska]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38179, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rabia is recorded at frequency rank #4,374, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈraβ̞ja]. rasca is at rank #33,805, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈraska].

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 38179, this pair ranks #171,417 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rabia vs rasca

Shared letters: ar. Private to "rabia": bi. Private to "rasca": cs.

"rabia" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "rasca" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rabia ← arbia · rabai · rabbia · raiba · ravia · rbaia · rrabia
  • rasca ← arsca · racsa · rasac · rascca · rassca · rrasca · rsaca

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rabia" and "rasca" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rabia" is a noun and "rasca" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "rabia" vs "rasca" - which ranks higher?
"rabia" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,374 in our Spanish list, against #33,805 for "rasca". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "rabia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rasca" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #171,417 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rabia" and "rasca" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rasca vs rasta". 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 #171,417 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