Which to use
“adulteração” and “alteração” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,613
- “adulteração” frequency rank
- #5,594
- “alteração” frequency rank
- 43207
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | adulteração | alteração |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato ou efeito de adulterar; falsificação | o fato de alterar; modificação |
Where the eye mixes adulteração and alteração
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. adulteração runs 11 letters (VCVCCVCVCVV) against alteração's 9 (VCCVCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses adulteração with alteração
A purely visual mix-up. adulteração (/a.duw.te.ɾa.ˈsɐ̃w/) and alteração (/aɫ.tɨ.ɾɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
adulteração is recorded at frequency rank #37,613, classified as anoun, pronounced /a.duw.te.ɾa.ˈsɐ̃w/. alteração is at rank #5,594, tagged as anoun, pronounced /aɫ.tɨ.ɾɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.
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 43207, this pair ranks #22,460 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of adulteração vs alteração
Shared letters: aelortãç. Private to "adulteração": du. Private to "alteração": -.
"adulteração" · 11 letters · shape VCVCCVCVCVV · "alteração" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "adulteração" and "alteração" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "adulteração" vs "alteração" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "adulteração" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alteração" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #22,460 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "adulteração" and "alteração" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alienação vs alteração". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #22,460 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.