vagarvsvotarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#32,028
“vagar” frequency rank
#1,663
“votar” frequency rank
33691
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vagar votar
Definition Tener tiempo y lugar suficiente o necesario para hacer una cosa. Emitir el voto, dar su parecer una persona en una votación o acto electoral.

Where the eye mixes vagar and votar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
vagar
5 ch
votar

Visual trap between vagar and votar

A purely visual mix-up. vagar ([baˈɣ̞aɾ]) and votar ([boˈt̪aɾ]) 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 33691, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vagar is recorded at frequency rank #32,028, classified as averb, pronounced [baˈɣ̞aɾ]. votar is at rank #1,663, tagged as averb, pronounced [boˈt̪aɾ].

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 33691, this pair ranks #195,420 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vagar vs votar

Shared letters: arv. Private to "vagar": g. Private to "votar": ot.

"vagar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "votar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vagaravgar · bagar · vaagr · vagarr · vaggar · vagra · vgaar · vvagar
  • votarovtar · voatr · votarr · votra · vottar · vtoar · vvotar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "vagar" and "votar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([baˈɣ̞aɾ] versus [boˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "vagar" vs "votar" - which ranks higher?
"votar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,663 in our Spanish list, against #32,028 for "vagar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vagar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "votar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #195,420 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vagar" and "votar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vagar vs Vilar". 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 #195,420 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