Which to use
“rebotar” and “retar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,219
- “rebotar” frequency rank
- #37,304
- “retar” frequency rank
- 80523
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rebotar | retar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cambiar de dirección un cuerpo tras chocar con otro fijo por principio de acción y reacción, especialmente los elásticos. | Dicho de un noble: acusar ante el rey a otro noble de alevosía, quedando obligado el primero a mantener la denuncia en buena lid. |
Where the eye mixes rebotar and retar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between rebotar and retar
A purely visual mix-up. rebotar ([reβ̞oˈt̪aɾ]) and retar ([reˈt̪aɾ]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80523, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rebotar is recorded at frequency rank #43,219, classified as averb, pronounced [reβ̞oˈt̪aɾ]. retar is at rank #37,304, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈt̪aɾ].
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 80523, this pair ranks #11,530 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of rebotar vs retar
Shared letters: aert. Private to "rebotar": bo. Private to "retar": -.
"rebotar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "retar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "rebotar" for "retar" ever safe?
Frequency check: "rebotar" vs "retar" - which ranks higher?
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 "rebotar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #11,530 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rebotar" and "retar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rebasar vs rebotar". 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 #11,530 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.