Which to use
“derreter” and “derrotar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,728
- “derreter” frequency rank
- #7,137
- “derrotar” frequency rank
- 23865
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | derreter | derrotar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | liquefazer | vencer os adversários numa competição |
Where the eye mixes derreter and derrotar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. derreter and derrotar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses derreter with derrotar
A purely visual mix-up. derreter (/dɨ.Rɨ.ˈteɾ/) and derrotar (/dɨ.Ru.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 23865, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
derreter is recorded at frequency rank #16,728, classified as averb, pronounced /dɨ.Rɨ.ˈteɾ/. derrotar is at rank #7,137, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɨ.Ru.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 23865, this pair ranks #45,874 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of derreter vs derrotar
Shared letters: dert. Private to "derreter": -. Private to "derrotar": ao.
"derreter" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "derrotar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "derreter" for "derrotar" ever safe?
Frequency check: "derreter" vs "derrotar" - which ranks higher?
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 "derreter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "derrotar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #45,874 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "derreter" and "derrotar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defrontar vs derrotar". 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 #45,874 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.