Which to use
“desistir” and “despistar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,003
- “desistir” frequency rank
- #38,225
- “despistar” frequency rank
- 41228
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | desistir | despistar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | renunciar | fazer testes para determinar se uma pessoa tem alguma doença |
Letter map: desistir vs despistar
Shared letters muted; letters that set desistir and despistar apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. desistir runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against despistar's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Corpus notes: desistir and despistar
desistir and despistar are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41228, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
desistir is recorded at frequency rank #3,003, classified as averb, pronounced /dɨ.zɨʃ.ˈtiɾ/. despistar is at rank #38,225, tagged as averb.
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 41228, this pair ranks #24,728 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of desistir vs despistar
Shared letters: deirst. Private to "desistir": -. Private to "despistar": ap.
"desistir" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "despistar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "desistir" and "despistar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "desistir" or "despistar" show up more?
What to do next
You've compared "desistir" and "despistar". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "desistir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "despistar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #24,728 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "desistir" and "despistar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "despistar vs despontar". 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 #24,728 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.