Which to use
“incitar” and “irritar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,887
- “incitar” frequency rank
- #12,920
- “irritar” frequency rank
- 40807
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | incitar | irritar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | instigar | causar irritação a |
Where the eye mixes incitar and irritar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. incitar and irritar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: incitar vs irritar
A purely visual mix-up. incitar (/ĩ.si.ˈtaɾ/) and irritar (/i.hiˈta(h)/) 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 40807, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
incitar is recorded at frequency rank #27,887, classified as averb, pronounced /ĩ.si.ˈtaɾ/. irritar is at rank #12,920, tagged as averb, pronounced /i.hiˈta(h)/.
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 40807, this pair ranks #25,239 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of incitar vs irritar
Shared letters: airt. Private to "incitar": cn. Private to "irritar": -.
"incitar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "irritar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "incitar" and "irritar" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "incitar" vs "irritar" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "incitar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "irritar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,239 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "incitar" and "irritar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inchar vs incitar". 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 #25,239 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.