Which to use
“apegar” and “atear” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,459
- “apegar” frequency rank
- #38,140
- “atear” frequency rank
- 70599
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | apegar | atear |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fazer sentir ou sentir apego; afeiçoar-se | lançar fogo a |
Where the eye mixes apegar and atear
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. apegar runs 6 letters (VCVCVC) against atear's 5 (VCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: apegar vs atear
A purely visual mix-up. apegar (/ɐ.pɨ.ˈɡaɾ/) and atear (/ɐ.ˈtjaɾ/) 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 70599, 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/. atear is at rank #38,140, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.ˈtjaɾ/.
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 70599, this pair ranks #3,575 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of apegar vs atear
Shared letters: aer. Private to "apegar": gp. Private to "atear": t.
"apegar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "atear" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "apegar" for "atear" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "apegar" or "atear" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "apegar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "atear" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #3,575 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "apegar" and "atear" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "atar vs atear". 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 #3,575 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.