Which to use
“detenção” and “detonação” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,756
- “detenção” frequency rank
- #36,415
- “detonação” frequency rank
- 44171
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | detenção | detonação |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato de deter | ruído causado por explosão |
Where the eye mixes detenção and detonação
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. detenção runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVV) against detonação's 9 (CVCVCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between detenção and detonação
A purely visual mix-up. detenção (/dɨ.tẽ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and detonação (/dɨ.tu.nɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) 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 44171, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
detenção is recorded at frequency rank #7,756, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɨ.tẽ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. detonação is at rank #36,415, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɨ.tu.nɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.
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 44171, this pair ranks #21,367 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of detenção vs detonação
Shared letters: denotãç. Private to "detenção": -. Private to "detonação": a.
"detenção" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV · "detonação" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "detenção" for "detonação" ever safe?
Frequency check: "detenção" vs "detonação" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "detenção" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "detonação" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #21,367 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "detenção" and "detonação" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desolação vs detonação". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #21,367 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.