tóxicavstóxicoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,983
“tóxica” frequency rank
#13,578
“tóxico” frequency rank
29561
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tóxica tóxico
Definition Forma del femenino singular de tóxico. Que por contacto, ingesta o inoculación resulta dañino, destructivo o aún letal para las funciones de un organismo vivo.

Where the eye mixes tóxica and tóxico

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
tóxica
6 ch
tóxico

Visual trap between tóxica and tóxico

A purely visual mix-up. tóxica ([ˈt̪oksika]) and tóxico ([ˈt̪oksiko]) 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 - a in “tóxica” becomes o in “tóxico”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29561, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tóxica is recorded at frequency rank #15,983, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪oksika]. tóxico is at rank #13,578, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪oksiko].

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 29561, this pair ranks #216,385 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tóxica vs tóxico

Shared letters: citxó. Private to "tóxica": a. Private to "tóxico": o.

"tóxica" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "tóxico" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tóxica" for "tóxico" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt̪oksika] versus [ˈt̪oksiko]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "tóxica" or "tóxico" show up more?
"tóxico" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,578 in our Spanish list, against #15,983 for "tóxica". 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 "tóxica" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tóxico" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #216,385 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tóxica" and "tóxico" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "torito vs tóxico". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #216,385 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