decorarvsdemoraWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: decorar is a verb, demora is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“decorar” is a verb and “demora” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,860
“decorar” frequency rank
#4,056
“demora” frequency rank
16916
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decorar demora
Definition aprender de cor, memorizar: ato ou efeito de demorar

Letter map: decorar vs demora

Shared letters muted; letters that set decorar and demora apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. decorar runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against demora's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
decorar
6 ch
demora

Grammar separator: decorar vs demora

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: decorar is averb and demoraanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16916, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decorar is recorded at frequency rank #12,860, classified as averb. demora is at rank #4,056, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɨ.ˈmɔ.ɾɐ/.

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 16916, this pair ranks #54,497 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of decorar vs demora

Shared letters: adeor. Private to "decorar": c. Private to "demora": m.

"decorar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "demora" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • decorar ← dceorar · ddecorar · deccorar · decoarr · decorarr · decorra · decorrar · decroar
  • demora ← ddemora · demmora · demoar · demorra · demroa · deomra · dmeora · edmora

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "decorar" for "demora" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "decorar" is a verb and "demora" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "decorar" vs "demora" - which ranks higher?
"demora" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,056 in our Portuguese list, against #12,860 for "decorar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've compared "decorar" and "demora". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "decorar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "demora" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #54,497 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decorar" and "demora" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decorar 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 #54,497 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