decentevsdocenteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“decente” and “docente” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,621
“decente” frequency rank
#8,756
“docente” frequency rank
16377
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decente docente
Definition que age com decência relativo a professor

Where the eye mixes decente and docente

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. decente and docente follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
decente
7 ch
docente

Look-alike desk: decente vs docente

A purely visual mix-up. decente (/dɨ.ˈsẽ.tɨ/) and docente (/du.ˈsẽ.tɨ/) 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 - e in “decente” becomes o in “docente”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decente is recorded at frequency rank #7,621, classified as anadj, pronounced /dɨ.ˈsẽ.tɨ/. docente is at rank #8,756, tagged as anadj, pronounced /du.ˈsẽ.tɨ/.

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 16377, this pair ranks #55,183 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of decente vs docente

Shared letters: cdent. Private to "decente": -. Private to "docente": o.

"decente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "docente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • decente ← dceente · ddecente · deccente · decenet · decennte · decentte · decetne · decnete
  • docente ← dcoente · ddocente · doccente · docenet · docennte · docentte · docetne · docnete

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "decente" and "docente" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/dɨ.ˈsẽ.tɨ/ versus /du.ˈsẽ.tɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "decente" or "docente"?
"decente" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,621 in our Portuguese list, against #8,756 for "docente". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "decente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "docente" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #55,183 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decente" and "docente" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decente vs delete". 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 #55,183 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list