Which to use
“água” and “ânus” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #254
- “água” frequency rank
- #20,478
- “ânus” frequency rank
- 20732
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | água | ânus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | substância (H₂O) líquida e incolor, insípida e inodora, essencial para a vida da maior parte dos organismos vivos e excelente solvente para muitas outras substâncias; óxido de hidrogênio | orifício na extremidade final do intestino grosso, por onde são expelidos os excrementos |
Where the eye mixes água and ânus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses água with ânus
A purely visual mix-up. água (/ˈa.gwɐ/) and ânus (/ˈɐ.nuʃ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20732, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
água is recorded at frequency rank #254, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.gwɐ/. ânus is at rank #20,478, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɐ.nuʃ/.
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 20732, this pair ranks #49,705 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of água vs ânus
Shared letters: u. Private to "água": agá. Private to "ânus": nsâ.
"água" · 4 letters · shape VCVV · "ânus" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "água" and "ânus" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "água" or "ânus" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "água" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ânus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #49,705 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "água" and "ânus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs ânus". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #49,705 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.