inegávelvsinstávelWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#28,239
“inegável” frequency rank
#9,871
“instável” frequency rank
38110
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature inegável instável
Definition que não se pode negar não estável

Where the eye mixes inegável and instável

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. inegável (VCVCVCVC) and instável (VCCCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
inegável
8 ch
instável

Why the eye confuses inegável with instável

A purely visual mix-up. inegável (/i.nɨ.ˈɡa.vɛɫ/) and instável (/ĩʃ.ˈta.vɛɫ/) 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 38110, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

inegável is recorded at frequency rank #28,239, classified as anadj, pronounced /i.nɨ.ˈɡa.vɛɫ/. instável is at rank #9,871, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ĩʃ.ˈta.vɛɫ/.

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 38110, this pair ranks #28,403 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of inegável vs instável

Shared letters: eilnvá. Private to "inegável": g. Private to "instável": st.

"inegável" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCVC  ·  "instável" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "inegável" and "instável" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/i.nɨ.ˈɡa.vɛɫ/ versus /ĩʃ.ˈta.vɛɫ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "inegável" or "instável" show up more?
"instável" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,871 in our Portuguese list, against #28,239 for "inegável". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "inegável" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "instável" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #28,403 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "inegável" and "instável" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inegável vs inviável". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #28,403 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