vaciarvsvacilaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#22,894
“vaciar” frequency rank
#49,336
“vacila” frequency rank
72230
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vaciar vacila
Definition Retirar el interior o contenido de algo. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de vacilar.

Where the eye mixes vaciar and vacila

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. vaciar (CVCVVC) and vacila (CVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
vaciar
6 ch
vacila

Visual trap between vaciar and vacila

A purely visual mix-up. vaciar ([baˈsjaɾ]) and vacila ([baˈsila]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72230, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vaciar is recorded at frequency rank #22,894, classified as averb, pronounced [baˈsjaɾ]. vacila is at rank #49,336, tagged as averb, pronounced [baˈsila].

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 72230, this pair ranks #25,819 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of vaciar vs vacila

Shared letters: aciv. Private to "vaciar": r. Private to "vacila": l.

"vaciar" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "vacila" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vaciar ← avciar · baciar · vacair · vacciar · vaciarr · vacira · vaicar · vasiar
  • vacila ← avcila · bacila · vaccila · vacial · vacilla · vaclia · vaicla · vasila

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "vaciar" and "vacila" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([baˈsjaɾ] versus [baˈsila]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "vaciar" vs "vacila" - which ranks higher?
"vaciar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,894 in our Spanish list, against #49,336 for "vacila". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "vaciar" and "vacila" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vaciar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vacila" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #25,819 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vaciar" and "vacila" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vacila vs vacilar". 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 #25,819 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