Which to use
“espírito” and “espirro” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,191
- “espírito” frequency rank
- #38,261
- “espirro” frequency rank
- 39452
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | espírito | espirro |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | alma | expulsão brusca de ar pela boca e pelo nariz, devido um movimento reflexo convulso provocado por uma irritação |
Where the eye mixes espírito and espirro
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. espírito runs 8 letters (VCCVCVCV) against espirro's 7 (VCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses espírito with espirro
A purely visual mix-up. espírito (/es.ˈpi.ɾi.tu/) and espirro (/iʃ.ˈpi.Ru/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39452, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
espírito is recorded at frequency rank #1,191, classified as anoun, pronounced /es.ˈpi.ɾi.tu/. 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 39452, this pair ranks #26,787 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of espírito vs espirro
Shared letters: eioprs. Private to "espírito": tí. Private to "espirro": -.
"espírito" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV · "espirro" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- espirro ← epsirro · esiprro · espiro · espiror · esppirro · espriro · esspirro · sepirro
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "espírito" for "espirro" ever safe?
Which is more common, "espírito" or "espirro"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "espírito" 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 #26,787 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "espírito" 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 #26,787 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.