vacilavsvacilarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#49,336
“vacila” frequency rank
#38,440
“vacilar” frequency rank
87776
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vacila vacilar
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de vacilar. Moverse con inseguridad, sin paso firme o de modo indeterminado.

Where the eye mixes vacila and vacilar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
vacila
7 ch
vacilar

Look-alike desk: vacila vs vacilar

A purely visual mix-up. vacila ([baˈsila]) and vacilar ([basiˈlaɾ]) 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) - “vacila” sits inside “vacilar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87776, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vacila is recorded at frequency rank #49,336, classified as averb, pronounced [baˈsila]. vacilar is at rank #38,440, tagged as averb, pronounced [basiˈlaɾ].

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 87776, this pair ranks #4,249 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of vacila vs vacilar

Shared letters: acilv. Private to "vacila": -. Private to "vacilar": r.

"vacila" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "vacilar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vacilaavcila · bacila · vaccila · vacial · vacilla · vaclia · vaicla · vasila
  • vacilaravcilar · bacilar · vaccilar · vacialr · vacilarr · vacillar · vacilra · vacliar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vacila" and "vacilar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([baˈsila] versus [basiˈlaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "vacila" vs "vacilar" - which ranks higher?
"vacilar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,440 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.

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 "vacila" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vacilar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #4,249 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vacila" and "vacilar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vacila vs vasija". 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 #4,249 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