reciovsreñidoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: recio is a adjective, reñido is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“recio” is an adjective and “reñido” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,373
“recio” frequency rank
#43,239
“reñido” frequency rank
75612
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recio reñido
Definition Fuerte, resistente. Participio de reñir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set recio and reñido apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
recio
6 ch
reñido

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: recio is [ˈresjo] while reñido is [reˈɲið̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75612, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recio is recorded at frequency rank #32,373, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈresjo]. reñido is at rank #43,239, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈɲið̞o].

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 75612, this pair ranks #19,201 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of recio vs reñido

Shared letters: eior. Private to "recio": c. Private to "reñido": .

"recio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "reñido" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recioercio · rceio · reccio · recoi · reico · resio · rrecio

Frequency comparison

recio#32,373
reñido#43,239

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recio" and "reñido" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "recio" is an adjective and "reñido" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "recio" or "reñido"?
"recio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,373 in our Spanish list, against #43,239 for "reñido". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering recio vs reñido

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “recio”; for a verb, it's “reñido”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “recio” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list