Which to use
“abraçar” and “aplacar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,588
- “abraçar” frequency rank
- #43,760
- “aplacar” frequency rank
- 51348
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abraçar | aplacar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | envolver com os braços | reduzir a força ou a intensidade de; acalmar, atenuar, minorar |
Where the eye mixes abraçar and aplacar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. abraçar and aplacar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between abraçar and aplacar
A purely visual mix-up. abraçar (/ɐ.bɾɐ.ˈsaɾ/) and aplacar (/ɐ.plɐ.ˈkaɾ/) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51348, 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/. aplacar is at rank #43,760, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.plɐ.ˈkaɾ/.
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 51348, this pair ranks #13,678 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of abraçar vs aplacar
Shared letters: ar. Private to "abraçar": bç. Private to "aplacar": clp.
"abraçar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "aplacar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- aplacar ← alpacar · apalcar · aplaacr · aplacarr · aplaccar · aplacra · aplcaar · apllacar
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abraçar" for "aplacar" ever safe?
Frequency check: "abraçar" vs "aplacar" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
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 "aplacar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #13,678 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abraçar" and "aplacar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alçar 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 #13,678 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.