decorarvsdelirarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#12,860
“decorar” frequency rank
#37,744
“delirar” frequency rank
50604
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decorar delirar
Definition aprender de cor, memorizar: estar em delírio

Letter map: decorar vs delirar

Shared letters muted; letters that set decorar and delirar apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. decorar and delirar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
decorar
7 ch
delirar

Spelling & dictionary notes on decorar vs delirar

decorar and delirar 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 50604, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decorar is recorded at frequency rank #12,860, classified as averb. delirar is at rank #37,744, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɨ.li.ˈɾaɾ/.

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 50604, this pair ranks #14,356 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of decorar vs delirar

Shared letters: ader. Private to "decorar": co. Private to "delirar": il.

"decorar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "delirar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • decorar ← dceorar · ddecorar · deccorar · decoarr · decorarr · decorra · decorrar · decroar
  • delirar ← ddelirar · deilrar · deliarr · delirarr · delirra · delirrar · dellirar · delriar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "decorar" and "delirar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "decorar" or "delirar"?
"decorar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,860 in our Portuguese list, against #37,744 for "delirar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "decorar" and "delirar".

  • Full dictionary entry for "decorar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "delirar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #14,356 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decorar" and "delirar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "declinar vs delirar". 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 #14,356 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