restovsretroWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: resto is a noun, retro is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“resto” is a noun and “retro” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#583
“resto” frequency rank
#18,671
“retro” frequency rank
19254
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature resto retro
Definition Parte que queda de un todo tras haberle sido extraído algo. Que a causa de su apariencia evoca al pasado; que su apariencia está inspirada en diseños del pasado.

Where the eye mixes resto and retro

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
resto
5 ch
retro

Look-alike desk: resto vs retro

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: resto is [ˈrest̪o] while retro is [ˈret̪ɾo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19254, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

resto is recorded at frequency rank #583, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈrest̪o]. retro is at rank #18,671, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈret̪ɾo].

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 19254, this pair ranks #264,539 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of resto vs retro

Shared letters: eort. Private to "resto": s. Private to "retro": -.

"resto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "retro" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • restoersto · resot · ressto · restto · retso · rresto · rseto
  • retroertro · rerto · retor · retrro · rettro · rretro · rtero

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "resto" and "retro" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "resto" is a noun and "retro" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "resto" vs "retro" - which ranks higher?
"resto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #583 in our Spanish list, against #18,671 for "retro". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "resto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "retro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #264,539 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "resto" and "retro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rengo vs retro". 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 #264,539 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