Which to use
“retrasado” is an adjective and “retratado” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,916
- “retrasado” frequency rank
- #26,991
- “retratado” frequency rank
- 39907
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retrasado | retratado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que padece retraso mental. | Participio de retratar. |
Where the eye mixes retrasado and retratado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. retrasado and retratado follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between retrasado and retratado
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: retrasado is [ret̪ɾaˈsað̞o] while retratado is [ret̪ɾaˈt̪að̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - s in “retrasado” becomes t in “retratado”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retrasado is recorded at frequency rank #12,916, classified as anadj, pronounced [ret̪ɾaˈsað̞o]. retratado is at rank #26,991, tagged as averb, pronounced [ret̪ɾaˈt̪að̞o].
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 39907, this pair ranks #162,004 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of retrasado vs retratado
Shared letters: adeort. Private to "retrasado": s. Private to "retratado": -.
"retrasado" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV · "retratado" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "retrasado" and "retratado" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "retrasado" or "retratado" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "retrasado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retratado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #162,004 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retrasado" and "retratado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retratada vs retratado". 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 #162,004 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.