Which to use
“alisar” and “ativar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,330
- “alisar” frequency rank
- #10,312
- “ativar” frequency rank
- 51642
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alisar | ativar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | tornar liso | tornar ativo; fazer com que algo ou alguém funcione ou atue |
Where the eye mixes alisar and ativar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. alisar and ativar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between alisar and ativar
A purely visual mix-up. alisar (/ɐ.li.ˈzaɾ/) and ativar (/a.ti.ˈvaɾ/) 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 51642, 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/. ativar is at rank #10,312, tagged as averb, pronounced /a.ti.ˈvaɾ/.
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 51642, this pair ranks #13,439 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of alisar vs ativar
Shared letters: air. Private to "alisar": ls. Private to "ativar": tv.
"alisar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "ativar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "alisar" for "ativar" ever safe?
Frequency check: "alisar" vs "ativar" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "alisar" and "ativar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "alisar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ativar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #13,439 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alisar" and "ativar" 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 #13,439 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.