Which to use
“descontar” and “descontrair” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,272
- “descontar” frequency rank
- #28,935
- “descontrair” frequency rank
- 51207
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | descontar | descontrair |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fazer desconto | eliminar a contração ou a tensão |
Where the eye mixes descontar and descontrair
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. descontar runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against descontrair's 11 (CVCCVCCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses descontar with descontrair
A purely visual mix-up. descontar (/dɨʃ.kõ.ˈtaɾ/) and descontrair (/dɨʃ.kõ.tɾɐ.ˈiɾ/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
descontar is recorded at frequency rank #22,272, classified as averb, pronounced /dɨʃ.kõ.ˈtaɾ/. descontrair is at rank #28,935, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɨʃ.kõ.tɾɐ.ˈiɾ/.
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 51207, this pair ranks #13,790 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of descontar vs descontrair
Shared letters: acdenorst. Private to "descontar": -. Private to "descontrair": i.
"descontar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "descontrair" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- descontar ← ddescontar · decsontar · desccontar · descnotar · desconatr · desconntar · descontarr · descontra
- descontrair ← ddescontrair · decsontrair · desccontrair · descnotrair · desconntrair · desconrtair · descontarir · descontrairr
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "descontar" for "descontrair" ever safe?
Frequency check: "descontar" vs "descontrair" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "descontar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "descontrair" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #13,790 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "descontar" and "descontrair" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desapontar vs descontar". 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 #13,790 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.