apáticovsaquáticoConfusable pair

Which to use

“apático” and “aquático” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#49,297
“apático” frequency rank
#15,017
“aquático” frequency rank
64314
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apático aquático
Definition que apresenta apatia; indolente qualificação de coisas ou ações que se desenvolvem na água

Where the eye mixes apático and aquático

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. apático runs 7 letters (VCVCVCV) against aquático's 8 (VCVVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
apático
8 ch
aquático

Why the eye confuses apático with aquático

A purely visual mix-up. apático (/ɐ.ˈpa.ti.ku/) and aquático (/ɐ.ˈkwa.ti.ku/) 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 64314, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

apático is recorded at frequency rank #49,297, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɐ.ˈpa.ti.ku/. aquático is at rank #15,017, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɐ.ˈkwa.ti.ku/.

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 64314, this pair ranks #5,832 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of apático vs aquático

Shared letters: aciotá. Private to "apático": p. Private to "aquático": qu.

"apático" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV  ·  "aquático" · 8 letters · shape VCVVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "apático" for "aquático" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ɐ.ˈpa.ti.ku/ versus /ɐ.ˈkwa.ti.ku/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "apático" or "aquático"?
"aquático" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,017 in our Portuguese list, against #49,297 for "apático". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "apático" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aquático" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #5,832 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "apático" and "aquático" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apatia vs apático". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #5,832 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