ânimovsávidoTell them apart

Quick tell: ânimo is a intj, ávido is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ânimo” is an intj and “ávido” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,571
“ânimo” frequency rank
#31,211
“ávido” frequency rank
42782
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ânimo ávido
Definition coragem, força que quer ardentemente

Where the eye mixes ânimo and ávido

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
ânimo
5 ch
ávido

Look-alike desk: ânimo vs ávido

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ânimo is /ˈɐ.ni.mu/ while ávido is /ˈa.vi.du/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42782, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ânimo is recorded at frequency rank #11,571, classified as anintj, pronounced /ˈɐ.ni.mu/. ávido is at rank #31,211, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈa.vi.du/.

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 42782, this pair ranks #22,942 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ânimo vs ávido

Shared letters: io. Private to "ânimo": mnâ. Private to "ávido": dvá.

"ânimo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "ávido" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ânimo" and "ávido" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ânimo" is an intj and "ávido" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ânimo" vs "ávido" - which ranks higher?
"ânimo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,571 in our Portuguese list, against #31,211 for "ávido". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "ânimo" and "ávido" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ânimo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ávido" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #22,942 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ânimo" and "ávido" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alado vs ávido". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #22,942 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