recadovsreclamoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#31,086
“recado” frequency rank
#6,584
“reclamo” frequency rank
37670
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recado reclamo
Definition Acción o efecto de recadar. Acción de manifestar la oposición, inconformidad o contradicción frente a algo que se considera injusto o con lo que no se está de acuerdo. Acción o efecto de reclamar (pedir o exigir algo con derecho).

Where the eye mixes recado and reclamo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. recado runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against reclamo's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
recado
7 ch
reclamo

Visual trap between recado and reclamo

A purely visual mix-up. recado ([reˈkað̞o]) and reclamo ([reˈklamo]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37670, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recado is recorded at frequency rank #31,086, classified as anoun, pronounced [reˈkað̞o]. reclamo is at rank #6,584, tagged as anoun, pronounced [reˈklamo].

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 37670, this pair ranks #174,086 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of recado vs reclamo

Shared letters: aceor. Private to "recado": d. Private to "reclamo": lm.

"recado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "reclamo" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recado ← ercado · reacdo · recaddo · recaod · reccado · recdao · rrecado
  • reclamo ← erclamo · rcelamo · recalmo · recclamo · reclammo · reclaom · recllamo · reclmao

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recado" and "reclamo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([reˈkað̞o] versus [reˈklamo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "recado" or "reclamo"?
"reclamo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,584 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

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "recado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reclamo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #174,086 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recado" and "reclamo" 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 #174,086 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