Which to use
“empatado” and “espantado” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,961
- “empatado” frequency rank
- #29,348
- “espantado” frequency rank
- 52309
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empatado | espantado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que impediu a continuação de; suspenso | admirado |
Where the eye mixes empatado and espantado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. empatado runs 8 letters (VCCVCVCV) against espantado's 9 (VCCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses empatado with espantado
A purely visual mix-up. empatado (/ẽ.pɐ.ˈta.du/) and espantado (/iʃ.pɐ̃.ˈta.du/) 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 52309, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empatado is recorded at frequency rank #22,961, classified as anadj, pronounced /ẽ.pɐ.ˈta.du/. espantado is at rank #29,348, tagged as anadj, pronounced /iʃ.pɐ̃.ˈta.du/.
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 52309, this pair ranks #12,864 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of empatado vs espantado
Shared letters: adeopt. Private to "empatado": m. Private to "espantado": ns.
"empatado" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV · "espantado" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "empatado" and "espantado" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "empatado" vs "espantado" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "empatado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "espantado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #12,864 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empatado" and "espantado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espantado vs espartano". 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 #12,864 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.