Which to use
“despesa” and “dispensa” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,784
- “despesa” frequency rank
- #13,061
- “dispensa” frequency rank
- 28845
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | despesa | dispensa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato ou efeito de despender | ato ou efeito de dispensar |
Where the eye mixes despesa and dispensa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. despesa runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against dispensa's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between despesa and dispensa
A purely visual mix-up. despesa (/dɨʃ.ˈpe.zɐ/) and dispensa (/diʃ.ˈpẽ.sɐ/) 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 28845, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
despesa is recorded at frequency rank #15,784, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɨʃ.ˈpe.zɐ/. dispensa is at rank #13,061, tagged as anoun, pronounced /diʃ.ˈpẽ.sɐ/.
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 28845, this pair ranks #39,919 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of despesa vs dispensa
Shared letters: adeps. Private to "despesa": -. Private to "dispensa": in.
"despesa" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "dispensa" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "despesa" and "dispensa" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "despesa" or "dispensa"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "despesa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dispensa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #39,919 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "despesa" and "dispensa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dispensa vs distensão". 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 #39,919 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.