Which to use
“espião” and “espirro” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,286
- “espião” frequency rank
- #38,261
- “espirro” frequency rank
- 51547
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | espião | espirro |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pessoa empregada por um governo ou companhia para obter informações secretas sobre outro governo ou companhia | expulsão brusca de ar pela boca e pelo nariz, devido um movimento reflexo convulso provocado por uma irritação |
Letter map: espião vs espirro
Shared letters muted; letters that set espião and espirro apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. espião runs 6 letters (VCCVVV) against espirro's 7 (VCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Corpus notes: espião and espirro
espião and espirro are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51547, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
espião is recorded at frequency rank #13,286, classified as anoun. espirro is at rank #38,261, tagged as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈpi.Ru/.
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 51547, this pair ranks #13,514 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of espião vs espirro
Shared letters: eiops. Private to "espião": ã. Private to "espirro": r.
"espião" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV · "espirro" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- espirro ← epsirro · esiprro · espiro · espiror · esppirro · espriro · esspirro · sepirro
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "espião" and "espirro" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "espião" or "espirro"?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "espião" and "espirro".
- Full dictionary entry for "espião" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "espirro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #13,514 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "espião" and "espirro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espiar vs espirro". 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 #13,514 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.