Which to use
“adulto” and “alto” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,656
- “adulto” frequency rank
- #516
- “alto” frequency rank
- 4172
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | adulto | alto |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | diz-se do ser vivo que atingiu a maturidade do desenvolvimento fisiológico, intelectual e/ou emocional (no caso do ser humano, em torno dos vinte anos de idade) | de muita estatura |
Where the eye mixes adulto and alto
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. adulto runs 6 letters (VCVCCV) against alto's 4 (VCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between adulto and alto
A purely visual mix-up. adulto (/a.ˈduw.tu/ ouvir ^(fonte ?)) and alto (/ˈaɫ.tu/) 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 4172, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
adulto is recorded at frequency rank #3,656, classified as anadj, pronounced /a.ˈduw.tu/ ouvir ^(fonte ?). alto is at rank #516, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈaɫ.tu/.
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 4172, this pair ranks #70,822 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of adulto vs alto
Shared letters: alot. Private to "adulto": du. Private to "alto": -.
"adulto" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV · "alto" · 4 letters · shape VCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "adulto" and "alto" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "adulto" or "alto" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "adulto" and "alto" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "adulto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #70,822 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "adulto" and "alto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "adulto vs avulso". 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 #70,822 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.