degustarvsdetestarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#49,911
“degustar” frequency rank
#41,446
“detestar” frequency rank
91357
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature degustar detestar
Definition tomar o gosto a sentir ódio por

Where the eye mixes degustar and detestar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. degustar and detestar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
degustar
8 ch
detestar

Look-alike desk: degustar vs detestar

A purely visual mix-up. degustar (/dɨ.ɡuʃ.ˈtaɾ/) and detestar (/de.teʃ.ˈtaχ/, /de.teʃ.ˈta/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 91357, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

degustar is recorded at frequency rank #49,911, classified as averb, pronounced /dɨ.ɡuʃ.ˈtaɾ/. detestar is at rank #41,446, tagged as averb, pronounced /de.teʃ.ˈtaχ/, /de.teʃ.ˈta/.

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 91357, this pair ranks #215 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of degustar vs detestar

Shared letters: aderst. Private to "degustar": gu. Private to "detestar": -.

"degustar" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "detestar" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • degustar ← ddegustar · deggustar · degsutar · degusatr · degusstar · degustarr · degustra · degusttar
  • detestar ← ddetestar · deetstar · detesatr · detesstar · detestarr · detestra · detesttar · detetsar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "degustar" for "detestar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/dɨ.ɡuʃ.ˈtaɾ/ versus /de.teʃ.ˈtaχ/, /de.teʃ.ˈta/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "degustar" or "detestar"?
"detestar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,446 in our Portuguese list, against #49,911 for "degustar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "degustar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "detestar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #215 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "degustar" and "detestar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "degustar vs devastar". 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 #215 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