encantarvsencenarTell them apart

Which to use

“encantar” and “encenar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#27,460
“encantar” frequency rank
#30,939
“encenar” frequency rank
58399
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature encantar encenar
Definition lançar encantamento ou magia sobre alguém; enfeitiçar alguém pôr em cena; fazer representar no palco

Where the eye mixes encantar and encenar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. encantar runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against encenar's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
encantar
7 ch
encenar

Look-alike desk: encantar vs encenar

A purely visual mix-up. encantar (/ẽ.kɐ̃.ˈtaɾ/) and encenar (/ẽ.sɨ.ˈnaɾ/) 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 58399, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

encantar is recorded at frequency rank #27,460, classified as averb, pronounced /ẽ.kɐ̃.ˈtaɾ/. encenar is at rank #30,939, tagged as averb, pronounced /ẽ.sɨ.ˈnaɾ/.

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 58399, this pair ranks #8,763 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of encantar vs encenar

Shared letters: acenr. Private to "encantar": t. Private to "encenar": -.

"encantar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "encenar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • encantarecnantar · enacntar · encanatr · encanntar · encantarr · encantra · encanttar · encatnar
  • encenarecnenar · enccenar · enceanr · encenarr · encennar · encenra · encnear · enecnar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "encantar" and "encenar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ẽ.kɐ̃.ˈtaɾ/ versus /ẽ.sɨ.ˈnaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "encantar" vs "encenar" - which ranks higher?
"encantar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,460 in our Portuguese list, against #30,939 for "encenar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "encantar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "encenar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #8,763 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "encantar" and "encenar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encantar vs engatar". 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 #8,763 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