abraçarvsagradarTell them apart

Which to use

“abraçar” and “agradar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,588
“abraçar” frequency rank
#6,731
“agradar” frequency rank
14319
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abraçar agradar
Definition envolver com os braços alisar o terreno com grade; gradar; desterroar

Where the eye mixes abraçar and agradar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
abraçar
7 ch
agradar

Look-alike desk: abraçar vs agradar

A purely visual mix-up. abraçar (/ɐ.bɾɐ.ˈsaɾ/) and agradar (/ɐ.ɡɾɐ.ˈdaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14319, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abraçar is recorded at frequency rank #7,588, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.bɾɐ.ˈsaɾ/. agradar is at rank #6,731, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.ɡɾɐ.ˈdaɾ/.

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 14319, this pair ranks #57,811 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abraçar vs agradar

Shared letters: ar. Private to "abraçar": . Private to "agradar": dg.

"abraçar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "agradar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • agradaragardar · aggradar · agraadr · agradarr · agraddar · agradra · agrdaar · agrradar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abraçar" and "agradar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ɐ.bɾɐ.ˈsaɾ/ versus /ɐ.ɡɾɐ.ˈdaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abraçar" vs "agradar" - which ranks higher?
"agradar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,731 in our Portuguese list, against #7,588 for "abraçar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "abraçar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "agradar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #57,811 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abraçar" and "agradar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abraçar vs aplacar". 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 #57,811 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list