defeitovsdireitoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: defeito is a noun, direito is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

By · Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org ·

Which to use

“defeito” is a noun and “direito” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,530
“defeito” frequency rank
#262
“direito” frequency rank
6792
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature defeito direito
Definition falha, imperfeição (tanto física quanto moral) que segue ou se estende em linha reta

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
defeito
7 ch
direito

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: defeito is /dɨ.ˈfɐj.tu/ while direito is /di.ˈɾɐj.tu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6792, 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/. direito is at rank #262, tagged as anadj, pronounced /di.ˈɾɐj.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 6792, this pair ranks #67,541 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of defeito vs direito

Shared letters: deiot. Private to "defeito": f. Private to "direito": r.

"defeito" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "direito" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • defeito ← ddefeito · deefito · defeiot · defeitto · defetio · deffeito · defieto · dfeeito
  • direito ← ddireito · dierito · direiot · direitto · diretio · dirieto · dirreito · drieito

Frequency comparison

defeito#6,530
direito#262

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "defeito" and "direito" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "defeito" is a noun and "direito" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "defeito" or "direito"?
"direito" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #262 in our Portuguese list, against #6,530 for "defeito". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering defeito vs direito

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “defeito”; for an adjective, it's “direito”.
  • 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