reactivavsreactivoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,296
“reactiva” frequency rank
#33,304
“reactivo” frequency rank
67600
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reactiva reactivo
Definition Forma del femenino de reactivo. Que produce una reacción o es capaz de producirla.

Where the eye mixes reactiva and reactivo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
reactiva
8 ch
reactivo

Visual trap between reactiva and reactivo

A purely visual mix-up. reactiva ([reakˈt̪iβ̞a]) and reactivo ([reakˈt̪iβ̞o]) 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 a single letter - a in “reactiva” becomes o in “reactivo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67600, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reactiva is recorded at frequency rank #34,296, classified as anadj, pronounced [reakˈt̪iβ̞a]. reactivo is at rank #33,304, tagged as anadj, pronounced [reakˈt̪iβ̞o].

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 67600, this pair ranks #36,701 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of reactiva vs reactivo

Shared letters: aceirtv. Private to "reactiva": -. Private to "reactivo": o.

"reactiva" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV  ·  "reactivo" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reactivaeractiva · raectiva · reacctiva · reacitva · reactiav · reactiba · reactivva · reacttiva
  • reactivoeractivo · raectivo · reacctivo · reacitvo · reactibo · reactiov · reactivvo · reacttivo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "reactiva" and "reactivo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([reakˈt̪iβ̞a] versus [reakˈt̪iβ̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "reactiva" or "reactivo" show up more?
"reactivo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,304 in our Spanish list, against #34,296 for "reactiva". 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 "reactiva" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reactivo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #36,701 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reactiva" and "reactivo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reacio vs reactivo". 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 #36,701 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