Which to use
“tortura” is a noun and “torturar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,361
- “tortura” frequency rank
- #17,931
- “torturar” frequency rank
- 23292
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tortura | torturar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | tratamento que se dá a um ser humano baseado em provocar dor, para se obter alguma atitude, ou para punição | atormentar |
Where the eye mixes tortura and torturar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. tortura runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against torturar's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tortura with torturar
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tortura is /tuɾ.ˈtu.ɾɐ/ while torturar is /tuɾ.tu.ˈɾaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “tortura” sits inside “torturar”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23292, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tortura is recorded at frequency rank #5,361, classified as anoun, pronounced /tuɾ.ˈtu.ɾɐ/. torturar is at rank #17,931, tagged as averb, pronounced /tuɾ.tu.ˈɾaɾ/.
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 23292, this pair ranks #46,562 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tortura vs torturar
Shared letters: aortu. Private to "tortura": -. Private to "torturar": -.
"tortura" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "torturar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tortura" for "torturar" ever safe?
Which is more common, "tortura" or "torturar"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tortura" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "torturar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #46,562 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tortura" and "torturar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "torrar vs torturar". 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 #46,562 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.