açudevsarcadeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,686
“açude” frequency rank
#27,734
“arcade” frequency rank
44420
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature açude arcade
Definition construção destinada a represar as águas de um rio arcada

Where the eye mixes açude and arcade

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
açude
6 ch
arcade

Look-alike desk: açude vs arcade

A purely visual mix-up. açude (/ɐ.ˈsu.dɨ/) and arcade (/ɑrˈkeɪd/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44420, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

açude is recorded at frequency rank #16,686, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.ˈsu.dɨ/. arcade is at rank #27,734, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɑrˈkeɪd/.

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 44420, this pair ranks #21,069 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of açude vs arcade

Shared letters: ade. Private to "açude": . Private to "arcade": cr.

"açude" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "arcade" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • arcadeacrade · aracde · arcadde · arcaed · arccade · arcdae · arrcade · racade

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "açude" and "arcade" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɐ.ˈsu.dɨ/ versus /ɑrˈkeɪd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "açude" vs "arcade" - which ranks higher?
"açude" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,686 in our Portuguese list, against #27,734 for "arcade". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "açude" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "arcade" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #21,069 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "açude" and "arcade" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arado vs arcade". 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 #21,069 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