Which to use
“escavar” and “esmagar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,966
- “escavar” frequency rank
- #21,167
- “esmagar” frequency rank
- 46133
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | escavar | esmagar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | tornar vazio pela remoção do que há dentro; fazer um buraco ou cavidade em; realizar uma escavação | apertar ou pressionar com força de modo a destruir ou deformar |
Where the eye mixes escavar and esmagar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between escavar and esmagar
A purely visual mix-up. escavar (/iʃ.kɐ.ˈvaɾ/) and esmagar (/iʒ.mɐ.ˈɡaɾ/) 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 46133, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
escavar is recorded at frequency rank #24,966, classified as averb, pronounced /iʃ.kɐ.ˈvaɾ/. esmagar is at rank #21,167, tagged as averb, pronounced /iʒ.mɐ.ˈɡaɾ/.
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 46133, this pair ranks #19,219 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of escavar vs esmagar
Shared letters: aers. Private to "escavar": cv. Private to "esmagar": gm.
"escavar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "esmagar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "escavar" for "esmagar" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "escavar" or "esmagar" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "escavar" and "esmagar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "escavar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "esmagar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #19,219 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "escavar" and "esmagar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "escavar vs escoar". 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 #19,219 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.