Which to use
“delegar” and “desejar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,841
- “delegar” frequency rank
- #3,892
- “desejar” frequency rank
- 40733
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | delegar | desejar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | investir na faculdade de proceder em nome de outrem | querer realizar algo |
Where the eye mixes delegar and desejar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. delegar and desejar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses delegar with desejar
A purely visual mix-up. delegar (/dɨ.lɨ.ˈɡaɾ/) and desejar (/dɨ.zɨ.ˈʒaɾ/) 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 40733, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
delegar is recorded at frequency rank #36,841, classified as averb, pronounced /dɨ.lɨ.ˈɡaɾ/. desejar is at rank #3,892, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɨ.zɨ.ˈʒaɾ/.
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 40733, this pair ranks #25,322 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of delegar vs desejar
Shared letters: ader. Private to "delegar": gl. Private to "desejar": js.
"delegar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "desejar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "delegar" and "desejar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "delegar" or "desejar"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "delegar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desejar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,322 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "delegar" and "desejar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "delegar vs delirar". 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 #25,322 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.