Which to use
“mastro” is a noun and “monstro” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,493
- “mastro” frequency rank
- #4,083
- “monstro” frequency rank
- 23576
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mastro | monstro |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | haste sobre a qual se iça uma bandeira | mostrar, indicar |
Where the eye mixes mastro and monstro
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mastro vs monstro
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mastro is /ˈmaʃ.tɾu/ while monstro is /ˈmoːns.troː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23576, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mastro is recorded at frequency rank #19,493, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmaʃ.tɾu/. monstro is at rank #4,083, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈmoːns.troː/.
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 23576, this pair ranks #46,230 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mastro vs monstro
Shared letters: morst. Private to "mastro": a. Private to "monstro": n.
"mastro" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "monstro" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mastro" and "monstro" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "mastro" or "monstro" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mastro" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "monstro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #46,230 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mastro" and "monstro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mastro vs mestra". 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 #46,230 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.