submersovssubmissoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#34,052
“submerso” frequency rank
#37,102
“submisso” frequency rank
71154
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature submerso submisso
Definition diz-se de algo que está completamente debaixo d'água obediente

Where the eye mixes submerso and submisso

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. submerso and submisso follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
submerso
8 ch
submisso

Look-alike desk: submerso vs submisso

A purely visual mix-up. submerso (/su.bˈmɛɾ.su/) and submisso (/su.bˈmi.su/) 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 71154, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

submerso is recorded at frequency rank #34,052, classified as anadj, pronounced /su.bˈmɛɾ.su/. submisso is at rank #37,102, tagged as anadj, pronounced /su.bˈmi.su/.

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 71154, this pair ranks #3,432 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of submerso vs submisso

Shared letters: bmosu. Private to "submerso": er. Private to "submisso": i.

"submerso" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "submisso" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • submerso ← sbumerso · ssubmerso · subbmerso · subemrso · submeros · submerrso · submersso · submesro
  • submisso ← sbumisso · ssubmisso · subbmisso · subimsso · submiso · submisos · submmisso · submsiso

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "submerso" and "submisso" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/su.bˈmɛɾ.su/ versus /su.bˈmi.su/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "submerso" or "submisso" show up more?
"submerso" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,052 in our Portuguese list, against #37,102 for "submisso". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "submerso" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "submisso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #3,432 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "submerso" and "submisso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "submerso vs subversão". 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 #3,432 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