escassezvsescassoTell them apart

Quick tell: escassez is a noun, escasso is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#9,333
“escassez” frequency rank
#23,313
“escasso” frequency rank
32646
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature escassez escasso
Definition suprimento inadequado de algo, especialmente de alimentos de que há pouco

Letter map: escassez vs escasso

Shared letters muted; letters that set escassez and escasso apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.

8 ch
escassez
7 ch
escasso

Grammar separator: escassez vs escasso

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: escassez is anoun and escassoanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32646, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

escassez is recorded at frequency rank #9,333, classified as anoun. escasso is at rank #23,313, tagged as anadj, pronounced /iʃ.ˈka.su/.

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 32646, this pair ranks #35,102 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of escassez vs escasso

Shared letters: aces. Private to "escassez": z. Private to "escasso": o.

"escassez" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "escasso" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • escassezecsassez · esacssez · escasesz · escasez · escassezz · escassze · esccassez · escsasez
  • escassoecsasso · esacsso · escaso · escasos · esccasso · escsaso · esscasso · secasso

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "escassez" for "escasso" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "escassez" is a noun and "escasso" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "escassez" vs "escasso" - which ranks higher?
"escassez" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,333 in our Portuguese list, against #23,313 for "escasso". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "escassez" and "escasso".

  • Full dictionary entry for "escassez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "escasso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #35,102 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "escassez" and "escasso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "escalão vs escasso". 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 #35,102 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