Which to use
“dispensar” and “dispersar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,125
- “dispensar” frequency rank
- #23,980
- “dispersar” frequency rank
- 43105
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dispensar | dispersar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | conceder dispensa a | causar a dispersão de |
Where the eye mixes dispensar and dispersar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. dispensar and dispersar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: dispensar vs dispersar
A purely visual mix-up. dispensar (/diʃ.pẽ.ˈsaɾ/) and dispersar (/diʃ.pɨɾ.ˈsaɾ/) 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 a single letter - n in “dispensar” becomes r in “dispersar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43105, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dispensar is recorded at frequency rank #19,125, classified as averb, pronounced /diʃ.pẽ.ˈsaɾ/. dispersar is at rank #23,980, tagged as averb, pronounced /diʃ.pɨɾ.ˈsaɾ/.
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 43105, this pair ranks #22,566 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dispensar vs dispersar
Shared letters: adeiprs. Private to "dispensar": n. Private to "dispersar": -.
"dispensar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "dispersar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dispensar" and "dispersar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "dispensar" or "dispersar"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dispensar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dispersar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #22,566 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dispensar" and "dispersar" 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 #22,566 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.