Which to use
“dear” and “def” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,263
- “dear” frequency rank
- #32,132
- “def” frequency rank
- 52395
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dear | def |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | querido; amado | algo muito bom |
Where the eye mixes dear and def
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dear and def
A purely visual mix-up. dear (/dɪɹ/) and def (/dɛf/) 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 52395, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dear is recorded at frequency rank #20,263, classified as anadj, pronounced /dɪɹ/. def is at rank #32,132, tagged as anadj, pronounced /dɛf/.
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 52395, this pair ranks #12,794 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dear vs def
Shared letters: de. Private to "dear": ar. Private to "def": f.
"dear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "def" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dear ← daer · ddear · dearr · dera · edar
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dear" and "def" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "dear" vs "def" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "def" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #12,794 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dear" and "def" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs def". 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 #12,794 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.