ácidovsávidoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,441
“ácido” frequency rank
#31,211
“ávido” frequency rank
35652
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ácido ávido
Definition que possui um sabor azedo, picante, acre, como o do vinagre que quer ardentemente

Where the eye mixes ácido and ávido

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ácido and ávido follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
ácido
5 ch
ávido

Visual trap between ácido and ávido

A purely visual mix-up. ácido (/ˈa.si.du/) and ávido (/ˈa.vi.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 - c in “ácido” becomes v in “ávido”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35652, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ácido is recorded at frequency rank #4,441, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈa.si.du/. ávido is at rank #31,211, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈa.vi.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 35652, this pair ranks #31,367 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ácido vs ávido

Shared letters: dioá. Private to "ácido": c. Private to "ávido": v.

"ácido" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "ávido" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ácido" and "ávido" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈa.si.du/ versus /ˈa.vi.du/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ácido" vs "ávido" - which ranks higher?
"ácido" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,441 in our Portuguese list, against #31,211 for "ávido". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ácido" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ávido" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #31,367 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ácido" and "ávido" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alado vs ávido". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #31,367 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list