Which to use
“retardado” and “retardo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,519
- “retardado” frequency rank
- #35,235
- “retardo” frequency rank
- 75754
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retardado | retardo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participio de retardar. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de retardar. |
Where the eye mixes retardado and retardo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between retardado and retardo
A purely visual mix-up. retardado ([ret̪aɾˈð̞að̞o]) 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 differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75754, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retardado is recorded at frequency rank #40,519, classified as averb, pronounced [ret̪aɾˈð̞að̞o]. 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 75754, this pair ranks #18,974 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of retardado vs retardo
Shared letters: adeort. Private to "retardado": -. Private to "retardo": -.
"retardado" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV · "retardo" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "retardado" for "retardo" ever safe?
Which is more common, "retardado" or "retardo"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "retardado" and "retardo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "retardado" 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 #18,974 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retardado" and "retardo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recargado vs retardado". 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 #18,974 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.