Which to use
“demorar” and “devorar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,057
- “demorar” frequency rank
- #28,166
- “devorar” frequency rank
- 32223
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | demorar | devorar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | levar muito tempo ou mais tempo que o normal ou o limite | destruir |
Where the eye mixes demorar and devorar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between demorar and devorar
A purely visual mix-up. demorar (/dɨ.mu.ˈɾaɾ/) and devorar (/dɨ.vu.ˈɾaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - m in “demorar” becomes v in “devorar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32223, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
demorar is recorded at frequency rank #4,057, classified as averb, pronounced /dɨ.mu.ˈɾaɾ/. devorar is at rank #28,166, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɨ.vu.ˈɾaɾ/.
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 32223, this pair ranks #35,645 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of demorar vs devorar
Shared letters: adeor. Private to "demorar": m. Private to "devorar": v.
"demorar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "devorar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "demorar" and "devorar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "demorar" or "devorar" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "demorar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devorar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #35,645 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "demorar" and "devorar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "delirar vs devorar". 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 #35,645 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.