peste
/ˈpɛʃ.tɨ/
The verdict
“peste” is a moderately-common Portuguese word, ranked #10,061 in Portuguese word frequency and used as a noun.
- #10,061
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - epidemia grave
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 | peste |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpɛʃ.tɨ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #10,061 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “peste” sits in Portuguese frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Portuguese entry for peste is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpɛʃ.tɨ/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,061 in overall Portuguese word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for peste, with forms such as "epste", "peset", and "pesste". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pote", "posto", "ponte", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct Portuguese form is peste, spelled P-E-S-T-E.
Definition
- 1epidemia grave
- 2grande número de casos de uma doença contagiosa, ao mesmo tempo
- 3coisa funesta
- 4coisa perniciosa
- 5aquilo que corrompe
- 6mau cheiro
- 7pessoa má ou rabugenta
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: epste,peset,pesste,pestte,petse,ppeste,psete
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of peste - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "peste"?
What does "peste" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "peste"?
How do you pronounce "peste"?
What language does "peste" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “peste”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese spelling is P-E-S-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpɛʃ.tɨ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “pote” - see the side-by-side comparison. peste vs pote
- 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.