tinyvstiréTell them apart

Quick tell: tiny is a adjective, tiré is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tiny” is an adjective and “tiré” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,176
“tiny” frequency rank
#18,100
“tiré” frequency rank
60276
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tiny tiré
Definition Minúsculo, diminuto. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de tirar.

Where the eye mixes tiny and tiré

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
tiny
4 ch
tiré

Why the eye confuses tiny with tiré

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tiny is /ˈtaɪ.ni/ while tiré is [t̪iˈɾe]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60276, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tiny is recorded at frequency rank #42,176, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈtaɪ.ni/. tiré is at rank #18,100, tagged as averb, pronounced [t̪iˈɾe].

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 60276, this pair ranks #59,515 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tiny vs tiré

Shared letters: it. Private to "tiny": ny. Private to "tiré": .

"tiny" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "tiré" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tinyitny · tinny · tinyy · tiyn · tniy · ttiny

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tiny" and "tiré" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tiny" is an adjective and "tiré" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "tiny" or "tiré" show up more?
"tiré" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,100 in our Spanish list, against #42,176 for "tiny". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tiny" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tiré" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #59,515 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tiny" and "tiré" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "till vs tiny". 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 #59,515 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