Which to use
“alisar” and “aplicar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,330
- “alisar” frequency rank
- #5,378
- “aplicar” frequency rank
- 46708
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alisar | aplicar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | tornar liso | sobrepor, pôr sobre |
Where the eye mixes alisar and aplicar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. alisar runs 6 letters (VCVCVC) against aplicar's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses alisar with aplicar
A purely visual mix-up. alisar (/ɐ.li.ˈzaɾ/) and aplicar (/ɐ.pli.ˈkaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46708, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alisar is recorded at frequency rank #41,330, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.li.ˈzaɾ/. aplicar is at rank #5,378, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.pli.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 46708, this pair ranks #18,602 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of alisar vs aplicar
Shared letters: ailr. Private to "alisar": s. Private to "aplicar": cp.
"alisar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "aplicar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "alisar" and "aplicar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "alisar" vs "aplicar" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "alisar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aplicar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #18,602 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alisar" and "aplicar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alçar vs alisar". 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 #18,602 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.