Which to use
“desgastar” is a verb and “desgaste” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,754
- “desgastar” frequency rank
- #14,334
- “desgaste” frequency rank
- 52088
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | desgastar | desgaste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | destruir pouco a pouco | ato ou efeito de desgastar |
Where the eye mixes desgastar and desgaste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. desgastar runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against desgaste's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses desgastar with desgaste
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: desgastar is /deʒ.gaʃ.ˈtax/, /deʒ.gaʃ.ˈta/ while desgaste is /dɨʒ.ˈɡaʃ.tɨ/. 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 52088, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
desgastar is recorded at frequency rank #37,754, classified as averb, pronounced /deʒ.gaʃ.ˈtax/, /deʒ.gaʃ.ˈta/. desgaste is at rank #14,334, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɨʒ.ˈɡaʃ.tɨ/.
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 52088, this pair ranks #13,046 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of desgastar vs desgaste
Shared letters: adegst. Private to "desgastar": r. Private to "desgaste": -.
"desgastar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "desgaste" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "desgastar" for "desgaste" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "desgastar" or "desgaste" show up more?
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 "desgastar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desgaste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #13,046 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "desgastar" and "desgaste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "degustar vs desgastar". 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 #13,046 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.