refutarvsrematarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#25,427
“refutar” frequency rank
#23,926
“rematar” frequency rank
49353
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature refutar rematar
Definition Contradecir o impugnar afirmaciones de alguien con razones y argumentos. Causar la muerte a un ser que agoniza.

Where the eye mixes refutar and rematar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
refutar
7 ch
rematar

Visual trap between refutar and rematar

A purely visual mix-up. refutar ([refuˈt̪aɾ]) and rematar ([remaˈt̪aɾ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49353, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

refutar is recorded at frequency rank #25,427, classified as averb, pronounced [refuˈt̪aɾ]. rematar is at rank #23,926, tagged as averb, pronounced [remaˈt̪aɾ].

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 49353, this pair ranks #109,327 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of refutar vs rematar

Shared letters: aert. Private to "refutar": fu. Private to "rematar": m.

"refutar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "rematar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • refutarerfutar · reffutar · reftuar · refuatr · refutarr · refutra · refuttar · reuftar
  • rematarermatar · reamtar · remaatr · rematarr · rematra · remattar · remmatar · remtaar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "refutar" for "rematar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([refuˈt̪aɾ] versus [remaˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "refutar" vs "rematar" - which ranks higher?
"rematar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,926 in our Spanish list, against #25,427 for "refutar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "refutar" and "rematar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "refutar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rematar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #109,327 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "refutar" and "rematar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "refuta vs refutar". 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 #109,327 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