abafadovsabaladoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,425
“abafado” frequency rank
#17,952
“abalado” frequency rank
46377
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abafado abalado
Definition que sofreu do ato de abafar que se abalou

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
abafado
7 ch
abalado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. abafado (/a.ba.ˈfa.du/) and abalado (/ɐ.bɐ.ˈla.du/) 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 a single letter - f in “abafado” becomes l in “abalado”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abafado is recorded at frequency rank #28,425, classified as anadj, pronounced /a.ba.ˈfa.du/. abalado is at rank #17,952, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɐ.bɐ.ˈla.du/.

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 46377, this pair ranks #18,931 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of abafado vs abalado

Shared letters: abdo. Private to "abafado": f. Private to "abalado": l.

"abafado" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV  ·  "abalado" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abafadoaabfado · abaafdo · abafaddo · abafaod · abafdao · abaffado · abbafado · abfaado
  • abaladoaablado · abaaldo · abaladdo · abalaod · abaldao · aballado · abbalado · ablaado

Frequency comparison

abafado#28,425
abalado#17,952

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abafado" and "abalado" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/a.ba.ˈfa.du/ versus /ɐ.bɐ.ˈla.du/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abafado" or "abalado"?
"abalado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,952 in our Portuguese list, against #28,425 for "abafado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering abafado vs abalado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “abafado” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list