Which to use
“regir” and “retar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,913
- “regir” frequency rank
- #37,304
- “retar” frequency rank
- 66217
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | regir | retar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Gobernar, ejercer el poder de mando de un lugar u organización. | 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 regir and retar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. regir and retar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses regir with retar
A purely visual mix-up. regir ([reˈxiɾ]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66217, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
regir is recorded at frequency rank #28,913, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈxiɾ]. 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 66217, this pair ranks #40,445 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of regir vs retar
Shared letters: er. Private to "regir": gi. Private to "retar": at.
"regir" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "retar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "regir" and "retar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "regir" or "retar" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "regir" 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 #40,445 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "regir" and "retar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "renard vs retar". 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 #40,445 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.