defeitovsdelitoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,530
“defeito” frequency rank
#11,047
“delito” frequency rank
17577
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature defeito delito
Definition falha, imperfeição (tanto física quanto moral) ação ou omissão punível segundo lei aplicável; crime

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set defeito and delito apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
defeito
6 ch
delito

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. defeito (/dɨ.ˈfɐj.tu/) and delito (/de.ˈli.tu/) 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 17577, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

defeito is recorded at frequency rank #6,530, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɨ.ˈfɐj.tu/. delito is at rank #11,047, tagged as anoun, pronounced /de.ˈli.tu/.

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 17577, this pair ranks #53,639 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of defeito vs delito

Shared letters: deiot. Private to "defeito": f. Private to "delito": l.

"defeito" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "delito" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • defeitoddefeito · deefito · defeiot · defeitto · defetio · deffeito · defieto · dfeeito
  • delitoddelito · deilto · deliot · delitto · dellito · deltio · dleito · edlito

Frequency comparison

defeito#6,530
delito#11,047

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "defeito" and "delito" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/dɨ.ˈfɐj.tu/ versus /de.ˈli.tu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "defeito" or "delito"?
"defeito" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,530 in our Portuguese list, against #11,047 for "delito". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering defeito vs delito

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “defeito” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list