desfalquevsdestaqueWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#32,144
“desfalque” frequency rank
#1,428
“destaque” frequency rank
33572
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature desfalque destaque
Definition ato ou efeito de desfalcar qualidade ou estado do que sobressai

Where the eye mixes desfalque and destaque

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. desfalque runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVV) against destaque's 8 (CVCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
desfalque
8 ch
destaque

Why the eye confuses desfalque with destaque

A purely visual mix-up. desfalque (/dɨʃ.ˈfaɫ.kɨ/) and destaque (/dɨʃ.ˈta.kɨ/) 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 33572, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

desfalque is recorded at frequency rank #32,144, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɨʃ.ˈfaɫ.kɨ/. destaque is at rank #1,428, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɨʃ.ˈta.kɨ/.

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 33572, this pair ranks #33,903 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of desfalque vs destaque

Shared letters: adeqsu. Private to "desfalque": fl. Private to "destaque": t.

"desfalque" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVV  ·  "destaque" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • desfalque ← ddesfalque · defsalque · desaflque · desfallque · desfalqeu · desfalqque · desfaluqe · desfaqlue
  • destaque ← ddestaque · desatque · desstaque · destaqeu · destaqque · destauqe · destqaue · desttaque

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "desfalque" for "destaque" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/dɨʃ.ˈfaɫ.kɨ/ versus /dɨʃ.ˈta.kɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "desfalque" or "destaque" show up more?
"destaque" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,428 in our Portuguese list, against #32,144 for "desfalque". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "desfalque" and "destaque" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "desfalque" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "destaque" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #33,903 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 #33,903 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list