Which to use
“degustar” and “devastar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,911
- “degustar” frequency rank
- #47,300
- “devastar” frequency rank
- 97211
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | degustar | devastar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | tomar o gosto a | arruinar, assolar |
Where the eye mixes degustar and devastar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between degustar and devastar
A purely visual mix-up. degustar (/dɨ.ɡuʃ.ˈtaɾ/) and devastar (/dɨ.vɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/) 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 97211, 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/. devastar is at rank #47,300, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɨ.vɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/.
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 97211, this pair ranks #31 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of degustar vs devastar
Shared letters: aderst. Private to "degustar": gu. Private to "devastar": v.
"degustar" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "devastar" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "degustar" and "devastar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "degustar" or "devastar"?
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 "degustar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devastar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #31 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "degustar" and "devastar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desatar 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 #31 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.