Which to use
“desesperar” is a verb and “desespero” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,405
- “desesperar” frequency rank
- #4,631
- “desespero” frequency rank
- 47036
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | desesperar | desespero |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | tirar ou fazer perder a esperança a | aflição |
Where the eye mixes desesperar and desespero
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: desesperar vs desespero
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: desesperar is /dɨ.zɨʃ.pɨ.ˈɾaɾ/ while desespero is /dɨ.zɨʃ.ˈpe.ɾu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47036, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
desesperar is recorded at frequency rank #42,405, classified as averb, pronounced /dɨ.zɨʃ.pɨ.ˈɾaɾ/. desespero is at rank #4,631, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɨ.zɨʃ.ˈpe.ɾu/.
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 47036, this pair ranks #18,252 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of desesperar vs desespero
Shared letters: deprs. Private to "desesperar": a. Private to "desespero": o.
"desesperar" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC · "desespero" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- desesperar ← ddesesperar · deessperar · desepserar · deseseprar · desespearr · desesperarr · desesperra · desesperrar
- desespero ← ddesespero · deesspero · desepsero · desesepro · desespeor · desesperro · desesppero · desespreo
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "desesperar" and "desespero" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "desesperar" vs "desespero" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "desesperar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desespero" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #18,252 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- 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 #18,252 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.