designarvsdesligarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,336
“designar” frequency rank
#6,406
“desligar” frequency rank
20742
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature designar desligar
Definition indicar para exercer (cargo ou emprego); nomear interromper um circuito elétrico

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set designar and desligar apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
designar
8 ch
desligar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. designar (/dɨ.zi.ˈɡnaɾ/) and desligar (/dɨʒ.li.ˈɡaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20742, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

designar is recorded at frequency rank #14,336, classified as averb, pronounced /dɨ.zi.ˈɡnaɾ/. desligar is at rank #6,406, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɨʒ.li.ˈɡaɾ/.

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 20742, this pair ranks #49,700 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of designar vs desligar

Shared letters: adegirs. Private to "designar": n. Private to "desligar": l.

"designar" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "desligar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • designarddesignar · deisgnar · desginar · desiganr · desiggnar · designarr · designnar · designra
  • desligarddesligar · delsigar · desilgar · deslgiar · desliagr · desligarr · desliggar · desligra

Frequency comparison

designar#14,336
desligar#6,406

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "designar" and "desligar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/dɨ.zi.ˈɡnaɾ/ versus /dɨʒ.li.ˈɡaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "designar" or "desligar"?
"desligar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,406 in our Portuguese list, against #14,336 for "designar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering designar vs desligar

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list