Which to use
“espírito” is a noun and “estrito” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,191
- “espírito” frequency rank
- #27,088
- “estrito” frequency rank
- 28279
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | espírito | estrito |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | alma | que segue determinado modelo ou padrão, não admitindo desvios: |
Where the eye mixes espírito and estrito
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. espírito runs 8 letters (VCCVCVCV) against estrito's 7 (VCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between espírito and estrito
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: espírito is /es.ˈpi.ɾi.tu/ while estrito is /ɪʃ.ˈtɾi.tʊ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28279, 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/. estrito is at rank #27,088, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɪʃ.ˈtɾi.tʊ/.
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 28279, this pair ranks #40,546 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of espírito vs estrito
Shared letters: eiorst. Private to "espírito": pí. Private to "estrito": -.
"espírito" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV · "estrito" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- estrito ← esrtito · esstrito · estirto · estriot · estritto · estrrito · estrtio · esttrito
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "espírito" for "estrito" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "espírito" or "estrito" show up more?
What to do next
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 "estrito" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #40,546 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "espírito" and "estrito" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "esteio vs estrito". 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 #40,546 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.