demência
/dɨ.ˈmẽ.sjɐ/
The verdict
“demência” is a moderately-common Portuguese word, ranked #18,023 in Portuguese word frequency and used as a noun.
- #18,023
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - degeneração progressiva das faculdades mentais
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | demência |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /dɨ.ˈmẽ.sjɐ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #18,023 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “demência” sits in Portuguese frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Portuguese entry for demência is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɨ.ˈmẽ.sjɐ/. Corpus data places it at rank #18,023 in overall Portuguese word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for demência, with forms such as "ddemência", "demmência", and "demnêcia". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "decência", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct Portuguese form is demência, spelled D-E-M-Ê-N-C-I-A.
Definition
- 1degeneração progressiva das faculdades mentais
- 2comportamento que sugere ou aparenta loucura, doidice
- 3comportamento insensato
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddemência,demmência,demnêcia,demêcnia,demêncai,demênccia,demênica,demênncia,deêmncia,dmeência,edmência
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of demência - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "demência"?
What does "demência" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "demência"?
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What language does "demência" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “demência”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese spelling is D-E-M-Ê-N-C-I-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /dɨ.ˈmẽ.sjɐ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “decência” - see the side-by-side comparison. demência vs decência
- Browse more Portuguese words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Portuguese words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.