filtrar
verbCEFR B2
What does “filtrar” mean in English?
to leak, to filter
to leak, to filter (filtrarse a la prensa — allow confidential information to pass to unauthorised recipients)
Example sentences
La información confidencial se filtró a la prensa antes de que el consejo pudiera hacer el anuncio oficial.
The confidential information was leaked to the press before the board could make the official announcement.
Los documentos internos que se habían filtrado revelaban una estrategia de evasión fiscal sistemática.
The internal documents that had been leaked revealed a systematic tax evasion strategy.
Las redes sociales hacen más difícil filtrar la información y distinguir lo que es relevante de lo que no lo es.
Social networks make it harder to filter information and distinguish what is relevant from what is not.
How to use it
Filtrar means 'to filter' or 'to leak'. At B2, the media/information sense is most important: filtrarse a la prensa (be leaked to the press), filtrar documentos confidenciales (leak confidential documents). Also: filtrar información (filter/screen information for relevance). The reflexive filtrarse means 'to seep through' or 'to leak out': 'la información se filtró antes del anuncio oficial'. Don't confuse with revelar (reveal — deliberate disclosure) or divulgar (divulgate — spread widely).
Common mistake
Filtrar (leak information — let it pass to unauthorised parties) vs. revelar (reveal — deliberately disclose). A whistleblower puede filtrar documentos (may leak documents — passing to others without official sanction); un periodista puede revelar la información (a journalist may reveal the information — publish after receiving it). The leak is the unauthorized passing-on.