rayadovsrecadoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: rayado is a adjective, recado is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#25,017
“rayado” frequency rank
#31,086
“recado” frequency rank
56103
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rayado recado
Definition Cubierto de líneas o rayas. Acción o efecto de recadar.

Where the eye mixes rayado and recado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. rayado (CVVVCV) and recado (CVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
rayado
6 ch
recado

Look-alike desk: rayado vs recado

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rayado is [raˈʝað̞o] while recado is [reˈkað̞o]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56103, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rayado is recorded at frequency rank #25,017, classified as anadj, pronounced [raˈʝað̞o]. recado is at rank #31,086, tagged as anoun, pronounced [reˈkað̞o].

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 56103, this pair ranks #76,026 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of rayado vs recado

Shared letters: ador. Private to "rayado": y. Private to "recado": ce.

"rayado" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCV  ·  "recado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rayado ← aryado · raaydo · rayaddo · rayaod · raydao · rayyado · rrayado · ryaado
  • recado ← ercado · reacdo · recaddo · recaod · reccado · recdao · rrecado

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rayado" and "recado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rayado" is an adjective and "recado" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "rayado" or "recado"?
"rayado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,017 in our Spanish list, against #31,086 for "recado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "rayado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "recado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #76,026 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rayado" and "recado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recado vs regado". 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 #76,026 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