Which to use
“retrato” is a noun and “retro” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,252
- “retrato” frequency rank
- #18,671
- “retro” frequency rank
- 23923
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retrato | retro |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Imagen pictórica de alguien o algo, casi siempre de una persona. | Que a causa de su apariencia evoca al pasado; que su apariencia está inspirada en diseños del pasado. |
Where the eye mixes retrato and retro
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. retrato runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against retro's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: retrato vs retro
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: retrato is [reˈt̪ɾat̪o] while retro is [ˈret̪ɾo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23923, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retrato is recorded at frequency rank #5,252, classified as anoun, pronounced [reˈt̪ɾat̪o]. 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 23923, this pair ranks #243,547 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of retrato vs retro
Shared letters: eort. Private to "retrato": a. Private to "retro": -.
"retrato" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "retro" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "retrato" for "retro" ever safe?
Which is more common, "retrato" or "retro"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "retrato" and "retro" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "retrato" 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 #243,547 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retrato" 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 #243,547 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.