rentadovsretardoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#49,247
“rentado” frequency rank
#35,235
“retardo” frequency rank
84482
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rentado retardo
Definition Participio de rentar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de retardar.

Where the eye mixes rentado and retardo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
rentado
7 ch
retardo

Look-alike desk: rentado vs retardo

A purely visual mix-up. rentado ([rẽn̪ˈt̪að̞o]) and retardo ([reˈt̪aɾð̞o]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84482, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rentado is recorded at frequency rank #49,247, classified as averb, pronounced [rẽn̪ˈt̪að̞o]. retardo is at rank #35,235, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈt̪aɾð̞o].

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 84482, this pair ranks #7,015 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of rentado vs retardo

Shared letters: adeort. Private to "rentado": n. Private to "retardo": -.

"rentado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "retardo" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rentadoerntado · renatdo · renntado · rentaddo · rentaod · rentdao · renttado · retnado
  • retardoertardo · reatrdo · retadro · retarddo · retarod · retarrdo · retrado · rettardo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rentado" and "retardo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([rẽn̪ˈt̪að̞o] versus [reˈt̪aɾð̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "rentado" or "retardo"?
"retardo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,235 in our Spanish list, against #49,247 for "rentado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "rentado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "retardo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #7,015 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rentado" and "retardo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "regado vs rentado". 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 #7,015 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