Which to use
“atacado” and “atrasado” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,063
- “atacado” frequency rank
- #5,820
- “atrasado” frequency rank
- 10883
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | atacado | atrasado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | atado com atacador | que acontece após a hora ou data prevista |
Where the eye mixes atacado and atrasado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. atacado runs 7 letters (VCVCVCV) against atrasado's 8 (VCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses atacado with atrasado
A purely visual mix-up. atacado (/ɐ.tɐ.ˈka.du/) and atrasado (/a.tɾa.ˈza.du/) 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 10883, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
atacado is recorded at frequency rank #5,063, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɐ.tɐ.ˈka.du/. atrasado is at rank #5,820, tagged as anadj, pronounced /a.tɾa.ˈza.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 10883, this pair ranks #62,087 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of atacado vs atrasado
Shared letters: adot. Private to "atacado": c. Private to "atrasado": rs.
"atacado" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV · "atrasado" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "atacado" and "atrasado" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "atacado" or "atrasado" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "atacado" and "atrasado" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "atacado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "atrasado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #62,087 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "atacado" and "atrasado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "atacado vs Atacama". 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 #62,087 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.