incoerênciavsingerênciaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#34,759
“incoerência” frequency rank
#35,201
“ingerência” frequency rank
69960
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature incoerência ingerência
Definition estado do que é incoerente ação de ingerir(-se); intervenção, influência, intrometimento

Where the eye mixes incoerência and ingerência

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. incoerência runs 11 letters (VCCVVCVCCVV) against ingerência's 10 (VCCVCVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
incoerência
10 ch
ingerência

Visual trap between incoerência and ingerência

A purely visual mix-up. incoerência (/ĩ.kwɛ.ˈɾẽ.sjɐ/) and ingerência (/ĩ.ʒɨ.ˈɾẽ.sjɐ/) 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 69960, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

incoerência is recorded at frequency rank #34,759, classified as anoun, pronounced /ĩ.kwɛ.ˈɾẽ.sjɐ/. ingerência is at rank #35,201, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ĩ.ʒɨ.ˈɾẽ.sjɐ/.

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 69960, this pair ranks #3,781 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of incoerência vs ingerência

Shared letters: aceinrê. Private to "incoerência": o. Private to "ingerência": g.

"incoerência" · 11 letters · shape VCCVVCVCCVV  ·  "ingerência" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "incoerência" for "ingerência" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ĩ.kwɛ.ˈɾẽ.sjɐ/ versus /ĩ.ʒɨ.ˈɾẽ.sjɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "incoerência" vs "ingerência" - which ranks higher?
"incoerência" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,759 in our Portuguese list, against #35,201 for "ingerência". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "incoerência" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ingerência" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #3,781 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "incoerência" and "ingerência" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inferência vs ingerência". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #3,781 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