palhaço
/pɐ.ˈʎa.su/
The verdict
“palhaço” has 9 generated spelling variants in the Portuguese index at frequency #6,455. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #6,455
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 3,113
- “P” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - feito de palha
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | palhaço |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /pɐ.ˈʎa.su/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #6,455 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “palhaço” sits in Portuguese frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around palhaço (IPA /pɐ.ˈʎa.su/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #6,455 among 3,113 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for palhaço, with forms such as "aplhaço", "pahlaço", and "palahço". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "polaco", "palco", "palha", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct Portuguese form is palhaço, spelled P-A-L-H-A-Ç-O.
Definition
- 1feito de palha
- 2vestido de palha
- 3cómico; burlesco
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- aplhaço
- pahlaço
- palahço
- palhaoç
- palhhaço
- palhçao
- pallhaço
- plahaço
- ppalhaço
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of palhaço - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "palhaço"?
What does "palhaço" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "palhaço"?
How do you pronounce "palhaço"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “palhaço”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese spelling is P-A-L-H-A-Ç-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /pɐ.ˈʎa.su/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “polaco” - see the side-by-side comparison. palhaço vs polaco
- Browse more Portuguese words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Portuguese words
Same frequency band
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.