Which to use
“abraço” and “atraso” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,952
- “abraço” frequency rank
- #4,206
- “atraso” frequency rank
- 8158
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abraço | atraso |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | gesto de afeto no qual uma pessoa contorna com seus braços a outra pessoa, animal, objeto, etc., como forma de manifestar carinho, amizade, apoio, conforto, etc. | ato ou efeito de atrasar(-se) |
Where the eye mixes abraço and atraso
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. abraço and atraso follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: abraço vs atraso
A purely visual mix-up. abraço (/aˈbɾa.su/) and atraso (/ɐ.ˈtɾa.zu/) 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 8158, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abraço is recorded at frequency rank #3,952, classified as anoun, pronounced /aˈbɾa.su/. atraso is at rank #4,206, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.ˈtɾa.zu/.
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 8158, this pair ranks #65,728 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of abraço vs atraso
Shared letters: aor. Private to "abraço": bç. Private to "atraso": st.
"abraço" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "atraso" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- atraso ← artaso · atarso · atraos · atrasso · atrraso · atrsao · attraso · taraso
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "abraço" and "atraso" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "abraço" or "atraso"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "abraço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "atraso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #65,728 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abraço" and "atraso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arado vs atraso". 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 #65,728 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.