Which to use
“tacaño” is an adjective and “tacho” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,303
- “tacaño” frequency rank
- #37,876
- “tacho” frequency rank
- 87179
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tacaño | tacho |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Se dice de la persona poco dadivosa, que valora en exceso el dinero, o que es sumamente apegada al mismo, y tiene un interés en gastar lo menos posible. | Recipiente grande con fondo plano, de metal u otro material, especialmente el usado para arrojar la basura. |
Where the eye mixes tacaño and tacho
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tacaño runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against tacho's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tacaño with tacho
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tacaño is [t̪aˈkaɲo] while tacho is [ˈt̪at͡ʃo]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87179, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tacaño is recorded at frequency rank #49,303, classified as anadj, pronounced [t̪aˈkaɲo]. tacho is at rank #37,876, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪at͡ʃo].
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 87179, this pair ranks #4,698 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tacaño vs tacho
Shared letters: acot. Private to "tacaño": ñ. Private to "tacho": h.
"tacaño" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "tacho" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- tacho ← atcho · taccho · tachho · tacoh · tahco · tcaho · ttacho
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tacaño" for "tacho" ever safe?
Which is more common, "tacaño" or "tacho"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tacaño" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tacho" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #4,698 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tacaño" and "tacho" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tacaño vs tachan". 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 #4,698 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.