Which to use
“apegar” and “apelar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,459
- “apegar” frequency rank
- #16,444
- “apelar” frequency rank
- 48903
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | apegar | apelar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fazer sentir ou sentir apego; afeiçoar-se | chamar em socorro |
Where the eye mixes apegar and apelar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. apegar and apelar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses apegar with apelar
A purely visual mix-up. apegar (/ɐ.pɨ.ˈɡaɾ/) and apelar (/ɐ.pɨ.ˈlaɾ/) 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 a single letter - g in “apegar” becomes l in “apelar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48903, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
apegar is recorded at frequency rank #32,459, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.pɨ.ˈɡaɾ/. apelar is at rank #16,444, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.pɨ.ˈlaɾ/.
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 48903, this pair ranks #16,216 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of apegar vs apelar
Shared letters: aepr. Private to "apegar": g. Private to "apelar": l.
"apegar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "apelar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "apegar" and "apelar" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "apegar" vs "apelar" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "apegar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "apelar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #16,216 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "apegar" and "apelar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aparar vs apegar". 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 #16,216 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.