violarvsviolínConfusable pair

Quick tell: violar is a verb, violín is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“violar” is a verb and “violín” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,333
“violar” frequency rank
#12,738
“violín” frequency rank
21071
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature violar violín
Definition Actuar de manera prohibida por una norma. Instrumento de cuerda que se toca por frotación, con cuatro cuerdas afinadas en intervalos de quintas, siendo la tercera en la₄ fijada normalmente a 440 Hz. Es el de tamaño más reducido y tono más agudo de los instrumentos de cuerda clásicos. Se toca con un arco o vara estrecha, suavemente curvada, dotada de una cuerda de crin de caballo.

Where the eye mixes violar and violín

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
violar
6 ch
violín

Why the eye confuses violar with violín

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: violar is [bjoˈlaɾ] while violín is [bjoˈlĩn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21071, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

violar is recorded at frequency rank #8,333, classified as averb, pronounced [bjoˈlaɾ]. violín is at rank #12,738, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bjoˈlĩn].

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 21071, this pair ranks #256,561 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of violar vs violín

Shared letters: ilov. Private to "violar": ar. Private to "violín": .

"violar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "violín" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • violarbiolar · ivolar · viloar · vioalr · violarr · viollar · violra · voilar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "violar" for "violín" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "violar" is a verb and "violín" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "violar" or "violín"?
"violar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,333 in our Spanish list, against #12,738 for "violín". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "violar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "violín" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #256,561 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "violar" and "violín" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "violín vs violo". 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 #256,561 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