Which to use
“degradar” and “desagradar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,792
- “degradar” frequency rank
- #46,786
- “desagradar” frequency rank
- 92578
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | degradar | desagradar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | retirar títulos (carreiras, ofícios, trabalhos, graus etc.) de maneira humilhante; destituir | descontentar |
Where the eye mixes degradar and desagradar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. degradar runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against desagradar's 10 (CVCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses degradar with desagradar
A purely visual mix-up. degradar (/dɨ.ɡɾɐ.ˈdaɾ/) and desagradar (/dɨ.zɐ.ɡɾɐ.ˈdaɾ/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 92578, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
degradar is recorded at frequency rank #45,792, classified as averb, pronounced /dɨ.ɡɾɐ.ˈdaɾ/. desagradar is at rank #46,786, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɨ.zɐ.ɡɾɐ.ˈdaɾ/.
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 92578, this pair ranks #160 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of degradar vs desagradar
Shared letters: adegr. Private to "degradar": -. Private to "desagradar": s.
"degradar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "desagradar" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- degradar ← ddegradar · degardar · deggradar · degraadr · degradarr · degraddar · degradra · degrdaar
- desagradar ← ddesagradar · deasgradar · desagardar · desaggradar · desagraadr · desagradarr · desagraddar · desagradra
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "degradar" and "desagradar" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "degradar" or "desagradar" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "degradar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desagradar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #160 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "degradar" and "desagradar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desagradar vs desagrado". 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 #160 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.