Which to use
“selar” and “semear” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,893
- “selar” frequency rank
- #24,154
- “semear” frequency rank
- 51047
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | selar | semear |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pôr sela (em cavalo, por exemplo) | introduzir sementes no solo, com a intenção de que brotem |
Where the eye mixes selar and semear
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. selar runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against semear's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: selar vs semear
A purely visual mix-up. selar (/sɨ.ˈlaɾ/) and semear (/sɨ.ˈmjaɾ/) 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 51047, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
selar is recorded at frequency rank #26,893, classified as averb, pronounced /sɨ.ˈlaɾ/. semear is at rank #24,154, tagged as averb, pronounced /sɨ.ˈmjaɾ/.
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 51047, this pair ranks #13,948 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of selar vs semear
Shared letters: aers. Private to "selar": l. Private to "semear": m.
"selar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "semear" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "selar" for "semear" ever safe?
Frequency check: "selar" vs "semear" - 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 "selar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "semear" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #13,948 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "selar" and "semear" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "selar vs selim". 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 #13,948 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.