ácido vs ávido, What'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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ácido and ávido apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

ácido

5 ch

ávido

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

Frequency comparison

ácido#4,441

ávido#31,211

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

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.

Which is more common, "ácido" or "ávido"?

"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.

Remembering ácido vs ávido

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 “ácido” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable