estalovsestragoConfusable pair

Which to use

“estalo” and “estrago” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#35,580
“estalo” frequency rank
#12,434
“estrago” frequency rank
48014
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature estalo estrago
Definition ruído breve e intenso, ruído do que racha deterioração, prejuízo, dano

Where the eye mixes estalo and estrago

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. estalo runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against estrago's 7 (VCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
estalo
7 ch
estrago

Look-alike desk: estalo vs estrago

A purely visual mix-up. estalo (/iʃ.ˈta.lu/) and estrago (/iʃ.ˈtɾa.ɡu/) 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 48014, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

estalo is recorded at frequency rank #35,580, classified as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈta.lu/. estrago is at rank #12,434, tagged as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈtɾa.ɡu/.

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 48014, this pair ranks #17,208 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of estalo vs estrago

Shared letters: aeost. Private to "estalo": l. Private to "estrago": gr.

"estalo" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "estrago" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • estaloesatlo · esstalo · estallo · estaol · estlao · esttalo · etsalo · setalo
  • estragoesrtago · esstrago · estargo · estraggo · estraog · estrgao · estrrago · esttrago

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "estalo" and "estrago" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/iʃ.ˈta.lu/ versus /iʃ.ˈtɾa.ɡu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "estalo" or "estrago" show up more?
"estrago" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,434 in our Portuguese list, against #35,580 for "estalo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "estalo" and "estrago" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "estalo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "estrago" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #17,208 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "estalo" and "estrago" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "estalo vs esteio". 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 #17,208 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list