Which to use
“cassar” and “cessar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,183
- “cassar” frequency rank
- #8,729
- “cessar” frequency rank
- 42912
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cassar | cessar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | impedir que produza efeitos, anular, revogar (direitos políticos, mandatos, licenças, etc.): | interromper, não continuar |
Where the eye mixes cassar and cessar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cassar and cessar
A purely visual mix-up. cassar (/ka.ˈsaɾ/) and cessar (/sɨ.ˈsaɾ/) 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 - a in “cassar” becomes e in “cessar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42912, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cassar is recorded at frequency rank #34,183, classified as averb, pronounced /ka.ˈsaɾ/. cessar is at rank #8,729, tagged as averb, pronounced /sɨ.ˈsaɾ/.
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 42912, this pair ranks #22,792 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cassar vs cessar
Shared letters: acrs. Private to "cassar": -. Private to "cessar": e.
"cassar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "cessar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cassar" and "cessar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cassar" or "cessar" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cassar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cessar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #22,792 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cassar" and "cessar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cassada vs cassar". 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 #22,792 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.