retrasadosvsretratadosTell them apart

Which to use

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

#23,217
“retrasados” frequency rank
#41,050
“retratados” frequency rank
64267
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature retrasados retratados
Definition Forma del plural de retrasado, participio de retrasar. Forma del plural de retratado, participio de retratar.

Where the eye mixes retrasados and retratados

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. retrasados and retratados follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
retrasados
10 ch
retratados

Why the eye confuses retrasados with retratados

A purely visual mix-up. retrasados ([ret̪ɾaˈsað̞os]) and retratados ([ret̪ɾaˈt̪að̞os]) 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 a single letter - s in “retrasados” becomes t in “retratados”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64267, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

retrasados is recorded at frequency rank #23,217, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [ret̪ɾaˈsað̞os]. 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 64267, this pair ranks #46,106 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of retrasados vs retratados

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

"retrasados" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC  ·  "retratados" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • retrasadosertrasados · rertasados · retarsados · retraasdos · retrasaddos · retrasadoss · retrasadso · retrasaods
  • retratadosertratados · rertatados · retartados · retraatdos · retrataddos · retratadoss · retratadso · retrataods

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "retrasados" and "retratados" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ret̪ɾaˈsað̞os] versus [ret̪ɾaˈt̪að̞os]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "retrasados" or "retratados" show up more?
"retrasados" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,217 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.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "retrasados" 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 #46,106 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "retrasados" 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 #46,106 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