tóxicovstóxicosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,578
“tóxico” frequency rank
#13,809
“tóxicos” frequency rank
27387
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes tóxico and tóxicos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. tóxico runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against tóxicos's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
tóxico
7 ch
tóxicos

Look-alike desk: tóxico vs tóxicos

A purely visual mix-up. tóxico ([ˈt̪oksiko]) and tóxicos ([ˈt̪oksikos]) 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 extra letter(s) - “tóxico” sits inside “tóxicos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27387, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tóxico is recorded at frequency rank #13,578, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪oksiko]. tóxicos is at rank #13,809, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪oksikos].

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 27387, this pair ranks #227,053 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tóxico vs tóxicos

Shared letters: ciotxó. Private to "tóxico": -. Private to "tóxicos": s.

"tóxico" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "tóxicos" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tóxico" and "tóxicos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt̪oksiko] versus [ˈt̪oksikos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "tóxico" or "tóxicos" show up more?
"tóxico" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,578 in our Spanish list, against #13,809 for "tóxicos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tóxico" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tóxicos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #227,053 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tóxico" and "tóxicos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "torito vs tóxico". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #227,053 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