Which to use
“cercar” and “cessar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,230
- “cercar” frequency rank
- #8,729
- “cessar” frequency rank
- 33959
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cercar | cessar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pôr cerco a, sitiar | interromper, não continuar |
Where the eye mixes cercar and cessar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cercar vs cessar
A purely visual mix-up. cercar (/sɨɾ.ˈkaɾ/) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33959, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cercar is recorded at frequency rank #25,230, classified as averb, pronounced /sɨɾ.ˈkaɾ/. 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 33959, this pair ranks #33,430 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cercar vs cessar
Shared letters: acer. Private to "cercar": -. Private to "cessar": s.
"cercar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "cessar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cercar" and "cessar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cercar" or "cessar" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "cercar" and "cessar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cercar" 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 #33,430 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cercar" and "cessar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cercar vs cerda". 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 #33,430 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.