Which to use
“antigo” and “ativo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,233
- “antigo” frequency rank
- #3,881
- “ativo” frequency rank
- 5114
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | antigo | ativo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | de épocas passadas | diligente, expedito |
Where the eye mixes antigo and ativo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses antigo with ativo
A purely visual mix-up. antigo (/ɐ̃.ˈti.ɡu/) and ativo (/a.ˈʧi.vu/) 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 5114, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
antigo is recorded at frequency rank #1,233, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɐ̃.ˈti.ɡu/. ativo is at rank #3,881, tagged as anadj, pronounced /a.ˈʧi.vu/.
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 5114, this pair ranks #69,594 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of antigo vs ativo
Shared letters: aiot. Private to "antigo": gn. Private to "ativo": v.
"antigo" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "ativo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "antigo" and "ativo" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "antigo" vs "ativo" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "antigo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ativo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #69,594 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "antigo" and "ativo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aipo vs ativo". 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 #69,594 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.