dispensadovsdistensãoConfusable pair

Quick tell: dispensado is a adjective, distensão is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dispensado” is an adjective and “distensão” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,870
“dispensado” frequency rank
#43,387
“distensão” frequency rank
56257
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dispensado distensão
Definition característica do que foi liberado tensão demasiada; estiramento

Where the eye mixes dispensado and distensão

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. dispensado runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVCV) against distensão's 9 (CVCCVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
dispensado
9 ch
distensão

Visual trap between dispensado and distensão

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dispensado is /diʃ.pẽ.ˈsa.du/ while distensão is /diʃ.tẽ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56257, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dispensado is recorded at frequency rank #12,870, classified as anadj, pronounced /diʃ.pẽ.ˈsa.du/. distensão is at rank #43,387, tagged as anoun, pronounced /diʃ.tẽ.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 56257, this pair ranks #10,076 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dispensado vs distensão

Shared letters: deinos. Private to "dispensado": ap. Private to "distensão": tã.

"dispensado" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV  ·  "distensão" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dispensado ← ddispensado · dipsensado · disepnsado · dispenasdo · dispennsado · dispensaddo · dispensaod · dispensdao

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dispensado" and "distensão" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dispensado" is an adjective and "distensão" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dispensado" or "distensão"?
"dispensado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,870 in our Portuguese list, against #43,387 for "distensão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "dispensado" and "distensão" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dispensado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "distensão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #10,076 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dispensado" and "distensão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dispensar 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 #10,076 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list