Which to use
“defeito” and “desfeita” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,530
- “defeito” frequency rank
- #27,047
- “desfeita” frequency rank
- 33577
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | defeito | desfeita |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | falha, imperfeição (tanto física quanto moral) | confusão, desordem |
Where the eye mixes defeito and desfeita
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between defeito and desfeita
A purely visual mix-up. defeito (/dɨ.ˈfɐj.tu/) and desfeita (/des.ˈfei.tɐ/) 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 33577, 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/. desfeita is at rank #27,047, tagged as anoun, pronounced /des.ˈfei.tɐ/.
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 33577, this pair ranks #33,895 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of defeito vs desfeita
Shared letters: defit. Private to "defeito": o. Private to "desfeita": as.
"defeito" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV · "desfeita" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "defeito" and "desfeita" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "defeito" or "desfeita" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "defeito" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desfeita" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #33,895 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "defeito" and "desfeita" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desfeita vs despeito". 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 #33,895 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.