Which to use
“espanto” and “espinho” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,670
- “espanto” frequency rank
- #16,755
- “espinho” frequency rank
- 29425
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | espanto | espinho |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato ou efeito de espantar: | parte aguda e picante de um vegetal |
Where the eye mixes espanto and espinho
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between espanto and espinho
A purely visual mix-up. espanto (/iʃ.ˈpɐ̃.tu/) and espinho (/iʃ.ˈpi.ɲu/) 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 29425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
espanto is recorded at frequency rank #12,670, classified as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈpɐ̃.tu/. espinho is at rank #16,755, tagged as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈpi.ɲu/.
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 29425, this pair ranks #39,213 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of espanto vs espinho
Shared letters: enops. Private to "espanto": at. Private to "espinho": hi.
"espanto" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "espinho" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "espanto" and "espinho" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "espanto" or "espinho"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "espanto" and "espinho" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "espanto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "espinho" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #39,213 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "espanto" and "espinho" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espinal vs espinho". 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 #39,213 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.