Which to use
“bella” and “besta” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,252
- “bella” frequency rank
- #6,378
- “besta” frequency rank
- 13630
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bella | besta |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | forma feminina de bello: | diz-se de uma pessoa abobalhada ou ingênua |
Letter map: bella vs besta
Shared letters muted; letters that set bella and besta apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. bella and besta follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Pair insight - bella / besta
bella and besta are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13630, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bella is recorded at frequency rank #7,252, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈbɛl.la/. besta is at rank #6,378, tagged as anadj.
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 13630, this pair ranks #58,660 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bella vs besta
Shared letters: abe. Private to "bella": l. Private to "besta": st.
"bella" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "besta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bella" for "besta" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bella" vs "besta" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "bella" and "besta". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "bella" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "besta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #58,660 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bella" and "besta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bella vs burla". 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 #58,660 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.