superar vs superior, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“superar” is a verb and “superior” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,438
“superar” frequency rank: #925
“superior” frequency rank: 4363
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	superar	superior
Definition	exceder	melhor, mais elevado

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set superar and superior apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

superar

8 ch

superior

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: superar is /su.pɨ.ˈɾaɾ/ while superior is /su.pɨ.ˈɾjoɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4363, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

superar is recorded at frequency rank #3,438, classified as averb, pronounced /su.pɨ.ˈɾaɾ/. superior is at rank #925, tagged as anadj, pronounced /su.pɨ.ˈɾjoɾ/.

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 4363, this pair ranks #70,572 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of superar vs superior

Shared letters: eprsu. Private to "superar": a. Private to "superior": io.

"superar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "superior" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

superar ← spuerar · ssuperar · sueprar · supearr · superarr · superra · superrar · supperar
superior ← spuerior · ssuperior · sueprior · supeiror · superiorr · superiro · superoir · superrior

Frequency comparison

superar#3,438

superior#925

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "superar" and "superior" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "superar" is a verb and "superior" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "superar" or "superior"?

"superior" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #925 in our Portuguese list, against #3,438 for "superar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering superar vs superior

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “superar”; for an adjective, it's “superior”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “superar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable