Which to use
“amarelo” and “amargo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,180
- “amarelo” frequency rank
- #11,579
- “amargo” frequency rank
- 14759
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | amarelo | amargo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que tem cor do ouro, do açafrão, do limão, da gema do ovo, do enxofre, do topázio, entre outros; que é da cor que se situa, no espectro solar, entre o verde e o alaranjado | que amarga, que possui um sabor áspero e por vezes desagradável, como o do café puro, do quinino, do fel etc. |
Where the eye mixes amarelo and amargo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. amarelo runs 7 letters (VCVCVCV) against amargo's 6 (VCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses amarelo with amargo
A purely visual mix-up. amarelo (/ɐ.mɐ.ˈɾɛ.lu/) and amargo (/ɐ.ˈmaɾ.ɡu/) 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 14759, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
amarelo is recorded at frequency rank #3,180, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɐ.mɐ.ˈɾɛ.lu/. amargo is at rank #11,579, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɐ.ˈmaɾ.ɡu/.
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 14759, this pair ranks #57,235 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of amarelo vs amargo
Shared letters: amor. Private to "amarelo": el. Private to "amargo": g.
"amarelo" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV · "amargo" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "amarelo" for "amargo" ever safe?
Frequency check: "amarelo" vs "amargo" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "amarelo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "amargo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #57,235 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "amarelo" and "amargo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "amargo vs amargos". 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 #57,235 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.