encantarvsencostarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,460
“encantar” frequency rank
#16,042
“encostar” frequency rank
43502
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature encantar encostar
Definition lançar encantamento ou magia sobre alguém; enfeitiçar alguém apoiar

Where the eye mixes encantar and encostar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
encantar
8 ch
encostar

Visual trap between encantar and encostar

A purely visual mix-up. encantar (/ẽ.kɐ̃.ˈtaɾ/) and encostar (/ẽ.kuʃ.ˈtaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43502, 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/. encostar is at rank #16,042, tagged as averb, pronounced /ẽ.kuʃ.ˈtaɾ/.

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 43502, this pair ranks #22,116 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of encantar vs encostar

Shared letters: acenrt. Private to "encantar": -. Private to "encostar": os.

"encantar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "encostar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • encantarecnantar · enacntar · encanatr · encanntar · encantarr · encantra · encanttar · encatnar
  • encostarecnostar · enccostar · encosatr · encosstar · encostarr · encostra · encosttar · encotsar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "encantar" and "encostar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ẽ.kɐ̃.ˈtaɾ/ versus /ẽ.kuʃ.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "encantar" vs "encostar" - which ranks higher?
"encostar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,042 in our Portuguese list, against #27,460 for "encantar". 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 "encantar" and "encostar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "encantar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "encostar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #22,116 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "encantar" and "encostar" 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 #22,116 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