Which to use
“deter” is a verb and “detox” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,519
- “deter” frequency rank
- #39,563
- “detox” frequency rank
- 45082
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deter | detox |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | proceder à detenção; prender; reter à força | que promove a eliminação de toxina |
Letter map: deter vs detox
Shared letters muted; letters that set deter and detox apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Role in the sentence - deter and detox
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: deter is averb and detoxanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45082, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deter is recorded at frequency rank #5,519, classified as averb. detox is at rank #39,563, tagged as anadj.
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 45082, this pair ranks #20,348 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of deter vs detox
Shared letters: det. Private to "deter": r. Private to "detox": ox.
"deter" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "detox" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "deter" for "detox" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "deter" or "detox" show up more?
Useful next steps
You've compared "deter" and "detox". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "deter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "detox" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #20,348 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deter" and "detox" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "detox vs duto". 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 #20,348 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.