retrasadovsretratadosWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: retrasado is a adjective, retratados is a participle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“retrasado” is an adjective and “retratados” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,916
“retrasado” frequency rank
#41,050
“retratados” frequency rank
53966
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature retrasado retratados
Definition Que padece retraso mental. Forma del plural de retratado, participio de retratar.

Where the eye mixes retrasado and retratados

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. retrasado runs 9 letters (CVCCVCVCV) against retratados's 10 (CVCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
retrasado
10 ch
retratados

Why the eye confuses retrasado with retratados

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: retrasado is [ret̪ɾaˈsað̞o] while retratados is [ret̪ɾaˈt̪að̞os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53966, 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]. retratados is at rank #41,050, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [ret̪ɾaˈt̪að̞os].

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 53966, this pair ranks #85,408 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of retrasado vs retratados

Shared letters: adeorst. Private to "retrasado": -. Private to "retratados": -.

"retrasado" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV  ·  "retratados" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • retrasadoertrasado · rertasado · retarsado · retraasdo · retrasaddo · retrasaod · retrasdao · retrassado
  • retratadosertratados · rertatados · retartados · retraatdos · retrataddos · retratadoss · retratadso · retrataods

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "retrasado" and "retratados" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "retrasado" is an adjective and "retratados" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "retrasado" or "retratados"?
"retrasado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,916 in our Spanish list, against #41,050 for "retratados". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "retrasado" and "retratados" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "retrasado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "retratados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #85,408 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "retrasado" and "retratados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retratada vs retratados". 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 #85,408 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