desprezadovsdesprezarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: desprezado is a adjective, desprezar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“desprezado” is an adjective and “desprezar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,103
“desprezado” frequency rank
#23,971
“desprezar” frequency rank
59074
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature desprezado desprezar
Definition menosprezado; a quem se oferece desprezo, desdém, desconsideração, menosprezo ter sentimento de desprezo em relação a alguém

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set desprezado and desprezar apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
desprezado
9 ch
desprezar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: desprezado is anadjective and desprezaraverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59074, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

desprezado is recorded at frequency rank #35,103, classified as anadj. desprezar is at rank #23,971, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɨʃ.pɾɨ.ˈzaɾ/.

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 59074, this pair ranks #8,390 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of desprezado vs desprezar

Shared letters: adeprsz. Private to "desprezado": o. Private to "desprezar": -.

"desprezado" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCV  ·  "desprezar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • desprezadoddesprezado · depsrezado · desperzado · despprezado · despreazdo · desprezaddo · desprezaod · desprezdao
  • desprezarddesprezar · depsrezar · desperzar · despprezar · despreazr · desprezarr · desprezra · desprezzar

Frequency comparison

desprezado#35,103
desprezar#23,971

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "desprezado" and "desprezar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "desprezado" is an adjective and "desprezar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "desprezado" or "desprezar"?
"desprezar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,971 in our Portuguese list, against #35,103 for "desprezado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering desprezado vs desprezar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “desprezado”; for a verb, it's “desprezar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “desprezado” 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