dementevsdocenteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#28,930
“demente” frequency rank
#8,756
“docente” frequency rank
37686
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature demente docente
Definition que apresenta demência relativo a professor

Where the eye mixes demente and docente

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
demente
7 ch
docente

Look-alike desk: demente vs docente

A purely visual mix-up. demente (/dɨ.ˈmẽ.tɨ/) and docente (/du.ˈsẽ.tɨ/) 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 37686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

demente is recorded at frequency rank #28,930, classified as anadj, pronounced /dɨ.ˈmẽ.tɨ/. docente is at rank #8,756, tagged as anadj, pronounced /du.ˈsẽ.tɨ/.

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 37686, this pair ranks #28,886 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of demente vs docente

Shared letters: dent. Private to "demente": m. Private to "docente": co.

"demente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "docente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dementeddemente · deemnte · demenet · demennte · dementte · demetne · demmente · demnete
  • docentedcoente · ddocente · doccente · docenet · docennte · docentte · docetne · docnete

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "demente" for "docente" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/dɨ.ˈmẽ.tɨ/ versus /du.ˈsẽ.tɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "demente" or "docente"?
"docente" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,756 in our Portuguese list, against #28,930 for "demente". 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 "demente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "docente" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #28,886 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "demente" and "docente" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "delete vs demente". 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 #28,886 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