aquáriovsaquáticoTell them apart

Quick tell: aquário is a noun, aquático is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“aquário” is a noun and “aquático” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,308
“aquário” frequency rank
#15,017
“aquático” frequency rank
25325
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aquário aquático
Definition recipiente onde se criam animais aquáticos qualificação de coisas ou ações que se desenvolvem na água

Where the eye mixes aquário and aquático

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

7 ch
aquário
8 ch
aquático

Why the eye confuses aquário with aquático

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aquário is /a.ˈkwa.ɾju/ while aquático is /ɐ.ˈkwa.ti.ku/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25325, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aquário is recorded at frequency rank #10,308, classified as anoun, pronounced /a.ˈkwa.ɾju/. 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 25325, this pair ranks #44,019 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aquário vs aquático

Shared letters: aioquá. Private to "aquário": r. Private to "aquático": ct.

"aquário" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVV  ·  "aquático" · 8 letters · shape VCVVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "aquário" and "aquático" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aquário" is a noun and "aquático" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "aquário" vs "aquático" - which ranks higher?
"aquário" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,308 in our Portuguese list, against #15,017 for "aquático". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aquário" 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 #44,019 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aquário" and "aquático" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apático vs aquático". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #44,019 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