Which to use
“lançar” and “lavar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,237
- “lançar” frequency rank
- #3,336
- “lavar” frequency rank
- 5573
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lançar | lavar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | arremessar com força | limpar (algo) por ação de um líquido, especialmente água |
Where the eye mixes lançar and lavar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lançar runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against lavar's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between lançar and lavar
A purely visual mix-up. lançar (/lɐ̃.ˈsaɾ/) and lavar (/lɐ.ˈvaɾ/) 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 5573, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lançar is recorded at frequency rank #2,237, classified as averb, pronounced /lɐ̃.ˈsaɾ/. lavar is at rank #3,336, tagged as averb, pronounced /lɐ.ˈvaɾ/.
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 5573, this pair ranks #69,008 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lançar vs lavar
Shared letters: alr. Private to "lançar": nç. Private to "lavar": v.
"lançar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "lavar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lavar ← alvar · laavr · lavarr · lavvar · llavar · lvaar
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lançar" and "lavar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "lançar" or "lavar"?
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 "lançar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lavar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #69,008 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lançar" and "lavar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laca vs lavar". 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 #69,008 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.