moldarvsmorderConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#19,792
“moldar” frequency rank
#11,503
“morder” frequency rank
31295
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature moldar morder
Definition construir o molde de cravar os dentes em

Where the eye mixes moldar and morder

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. moldar and morder follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
moldar
6 ch
morder

Why the eye confuses moldar with morder

A purely visual mix-up. moldar (/moɫ.ˈdaɾ/) and morder (/muɾ.ˈdeɾ/) 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 31295, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

moldar is recorded at frequency rank #19,792, classified as averb, pronounced /moɫ.ˈdaɾ/. morder is at rank #11,503, tagged as averb, pronounced /muɾ.ˈdeɾ/.

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 31295, this pair ranks #36,839 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of moldar vs morder

Shared letters: dmor. Private to "moldar": al. Private to "morder": e.

"moldar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "morder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • moldar ← mlodar · mmoldar · modlar · moladr · moldarr · molddar · moldra · molldar
  • morder ← mmorder · modrer · mordder · morderr · mordre · moredr · morrder · mroder

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "moldar" for "morder" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/moɫ.ˈdaɾ/ versus /muɾ.ˈdeɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "moldar" vs "morder" - which ranks higher?
"morder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,503 in our Portuguese list, against #19,792 for "moldar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "moldar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "morder" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #36,839 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "moldar" and "morder" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "moldar vs multar". 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 #36,839 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