Which to use
“descansado” is an adjective and “descanso” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,095
- “descansado” frequency rank
- #5,406
- “descanso” frequency rank
- 40501
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | descansado | descanso |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que está em descanso | repouso/pausa no trabalho, nos afazeres |
Where the eye mixes descansado and descanso
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. descansado runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVCV) against descanso's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: descansado vs descanso
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: descansado is /dɨʃ.kɐ̃.ˈsa.du/ while descanso is /dɨʃ.ˈkɐ̃.su/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
descansado is recorded at frequency rank #35,095, classified as anadj, pronounced /dɨʃ.kɐ̃.ˈsa.du/. descanso is at rank #5,406, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɨʃ.ˈkɐ̃.su/.
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 40501, this pair ranks #25,594 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of descansado vs descanso
Shared letters: acdenos. Private to "descansado": -. Private to "descanso": -.
"descansado" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV · "descanso" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- descansado ← ddescansado · decsansado · desacnsado · descanasdo · descannsado · descansaddo · descansaod · descansdao
- descanso ← ddescanso · decsanso · desacnso · descannso · descanos · descansso · descasno · desccanso
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "descansado" for "descanso" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "descansado" or "descanso" 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 "descansado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "descanso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,594 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "descansado" and "descanso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "descansado vs descarado". 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 #25,594 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.