espiar
/iʃ.ˈpjaɾ/
The verdict
“espiar” is a moderately-common Portuguese word, ranked #39,136 in Portuguese word frequency and used as a verb.
- #39,136
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 17
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - observar alguém ou algo esforçando-se para não ser visto
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 | espiar |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /iʃ.ˈpjaɾ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #39,136 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 17 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “espiar” sits in Portuguese frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Portuguese entry for espiar is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /iʃ.ˈpjaɾ/. Corpus data places it at rank #39,136 in overall Portuguese word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "observar alguém ou algo esforçando-se para não ser visto".
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for espiar, with forms such as "epsiar", "esipar", and "espair". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 17 confusable-pair relationships, "estar", "espiga", "esticar", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct Portuguese form is espiar, spelled E-S-P-I-A-R.
Definition
- 1observar alguém ou algo esforçando-se para não ser visto
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: epsiar,esipar,espair,espiarr,espira,esppiar,esspiar,sepiar
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of espiar - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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
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Using “espiar”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese spelling is E-S-P-I-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /iʃ.ˈpjaɾ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “estar” - see the side-by-side comparison. espiar vs estar
- 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.