Which to use
“despejar” is a verb and “despesa” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,294
- “despejar” frequency rank
- #15,784
- “despesa” frequency rank
- 39078
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | despejar | despesa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jogar fora (um líquido, por exemplo) de seu recipiente | ato ou efeito de despender |
Where the eye mixes despejar and despesa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. despejar runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against despesa's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses despejar with despesa
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: despejar is /dɨʃ.pɨ.ˈʒaɾ/ while despesa is /dɨʃ.ˈpe.zɐ/. 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 39078, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
despejar is recorded at frequency rank #23,294, classified as averb, pronounced /dɨʃ.pɨ.ˈʒaɾ/. despesa is at rank #15,784, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɨʃ.ˈpe.zɐ/.
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 39078, this pair ranks #27,261 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of despejar vs despesa
Shared letters: adeps. Private to "despejar": jr. Private to "despesa": -.
"despejar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "despesa" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "despejar" and "despesa" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "despejar" or "despesa"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "despejar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "despesa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #27,261 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "despejar" and "despesa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "despejada vs despejar". 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 #27,261 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.