desejo vs despejo, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#1,189
“desejo” frequency rank: #18,833
“despejo” frequency rank: 20022
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	desejo	despejo
Definition	aquilo que se deseja	ato ou efeito de despejar

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set desejo and despejo apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

desejo

7 ch

despejo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. desejo (/dɨ.ˈzaj.ʒu/) and despejo (/dɨʃ.ˈpɐj.ʒu/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20022, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

desejo is recorded at frequency rank #1,189, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɨ.ˈzaj.ʒu/. despejo is at rank #18,833, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɨʃ.ˈpɐj.ʒu/.

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 20022, this pair ranks #50,590 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of desejo vs despejo

Shared letters: dejos. Private to "desejo": -. Private to "despejo": p.

"desejo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "despejo" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

desejo ← ddesejo · deesjo · desejjo · deseoj · desjeo · dessejo · dseejo · edsejo
despejo ← ddespejo · depsejo · desepjo · despejjo · despeoj · despjeo · desppejo · desspejo

Frequency comparison

desejo#1,189

despejo#18,833

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "desejo" and "despejo" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/dɨ.ˈzaj.ʒu/ versus /dɨʃ.ˈpɐj.ʒu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "desejo" or "despejo"?

"desejo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,189 in our Portuguese list, against #18,833 for "despejo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering desejo vs despejo

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 “desejo” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable