Which to use
“terco” and “tierno” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,415
- “terco” frequency rank
- #9,905
- “tierno” frequency rank
- 39320
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | terco | tierno |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que no cambia su opinión o proceder, pese a las razones en sentido contrario. | De textura blanda y fácil de partir. |
Where the eye mixes terco and tierno
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. terco runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against tierno's 6 (CVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between terco and tierno
A purely visual mix-up. terco ([ˈt̪eɾko]) and tierno ([ˈt̪jeɾno]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39320, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
terco is recorded at frequency rank #29,415, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪eɾko]. tierno is at rank #9,905, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪jeɾno].
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 39320, this pair ranks #165,180 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of terco vs tierno
Shared letters: eort. Private to "terco": c. Private to "tierno": in.
"terco" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "tierno" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "terco" and "tierno" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "terco" or "tierno" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "terco" and "tierno" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "terco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tierno" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #165,180 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "terco" and "tierno" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "terco vs termos". 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 #165,180 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.