defesavsdensaConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#723
“defesa” frequency rank
#16,029
“densa” frequency rank
16752
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature defesa densa
Definition ato ou efeito de defender forma feminina de denso

Letter map: defesa vs densa

Shared letters muted; letters that set defesa and densa apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. defesa runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against densa's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
defesa
5 ch
densa

Role in the sentence - defesa and densa

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: defesa is anoun and densaanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16752, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

defesa is recorded at frequency rank #723, classified as anoun. densa is at rank #16,029, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈdẽ.sɐ/.

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 16752, this pair ranks #54,699 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of defesa vs densa

Shared letters: ades. Private to "defesa": f. Private to "densa": n.

"defesa" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "densa" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • defesa ← ddefesa · deefsa · defeas · defessa · deffesa · defsea · dfeesa · edfesa
  • densa ← ddensa · denas · dennsa · denssa · desna · dnesa · ednsa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "defesa" and "densa" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "defesa" is a noun and "densa" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "defesa" or "densa" show up more?
"defesa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #723 in our Portuguese list, against #16,029 for "densa". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

You've compared "defesa" and "densa". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "defesa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "densa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #54,699 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "defesa" and "densa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "denota vs densa". 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 #54,699 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