modéstiavsmodestoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: modéstia is a noun, modesto is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“modéstia” is a noun and “modesto” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,413
“modéstia” frequency rank
#13,561
“modesto” frequency rank
36974
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature modéstia modesto
Definition qualidade de modesto que tem ou mostra humildade ou moderação quanto a seus próprios méritos, importância, etc; sem vaidade, egoísmo ou pretensão

Letter map: modéstia vs modesto

Shared letters muted; letters that set modéstia and modesto apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.

8 ch
modéstia
7 ch
modesto

Grammar separator: modéstia vs modesto

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: modéstia is anoun and modestoanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36974, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

modéstia is recorded at frequency rank #23,413, classified as anoun, pronounced /mu.ˈdɛʃ.tjɐ/. modesto is at rank #13,561, tagged as anadj.

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 36974, this pair ranks #29,743 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of modéstia vs modesto

Shared letters: dmost. Private to "modéstia": aié. Private to "modesto": e.

"modéstia" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV  ·  "modesto" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • modestomdoesto · mmodesto · moddesto · modesot · modessto · modestto · modetso · modseto

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "modéstia" for "modesto" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "modéstia" is a noun and "modesto" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "modéstia" vs "modesto" - which ranks higher?
"modesto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,561 in our Portuguese list, against #23,413 for "modéstia". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've compared "modéstia" and "modesto". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "modéstia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "modesto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #29,743 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "modéstia" and "modesto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "moderno vs modesto". 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 #29,743 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