demente vs doente, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#28,930
“demente” frequency rank: #2,318
“doente” frequency rank: 31248
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	demente	doente
Definition	que apresenta demência	que tem a saúde alterada

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set demente and doente apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

demente

6 ch

doente

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

demente and doente are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31248, 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/. doente is at rank #2,318, tagged as anadj.

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 31248, this pair ranks #36,901 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of demente vs doente

Shared letters: dent. Private to "demente": m. Private to "doente": o.

"demente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "doente" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

demente ← ddemente · deemnte · demenet · demennte · dementte · demetne · demmente · demnete
doente ← ddoente · deonte · doenet · doennte · doentte · doetne · donete · odente

Frequency comparison

demente#28,930

doente#2,318

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "demente" and "doente" be used interchangeably?

No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

Which is more common, "demente" or "doente"?

"doente" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,318 in our Portuguese list, against #28,930 for "demente". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering demente vs doente

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “demente” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable