Which to use
“pesar” and “peste” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,088
- “pesar” frequency rank
- #10,061
- “peste” frequency rank
- 19149
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pesar | peste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | condolência | epidemia grave |
Where the eye mixes pesar and peste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pesar (CVCVC) and peste (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between pesar and peste
A purely visual mix-up. pesar (/pɨ.ˈzaɾ/) and peste (/ˈpɛʃ.tɨ/) 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 19149, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pesar is recorded at frequency rank #9,088, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɨ.ˈzaɾ/. peste is at rank #10,061, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɛʃ.tɨ/.
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 19149, this pair ranks #51,663 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pesar vs peste
Shared letters: eps. Private to "pesar": ar. Private to "peste": t.
"pesar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "peste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pesar" for "peste" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pesar" vs "peste" - which ranks higher?
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 "pesar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "peste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #51,663 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pesar" and "peste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pastar vs pesar". 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 #51,663 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.