Which to use
“ativo” and “ávido” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,881
- “ativo” frequency rank
- #31,211
- “ávido” frequency rank
- 35092
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ativo | ávido |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | diligente, expedito | que quer ardentemente |
Where the eye mixes ativo and ávido
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ativo and ávido follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: ativo vs ávido
A purely visual mix-up. ativo (/a.ˈʧi.vu/) and ávido (/ˈa.vi.du/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35092, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ativo is recorded at frequency rank #3,881, classified as anadj, pronounced /a.ˈʧi.vu/. 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 35092, this pair ranks #32,018 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ativo vs ávido
Shared letters: iov. Private to "ativo": at. Private to "ávido": dá.
"ativo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "ávido" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- ativo ← aitvo · atiov · ativvo · attivo · atvio · taivo
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ativo" and "ávido" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "ativo" or "ávido"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ativo" 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 #32,018 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ativo" and "ávido" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alado vs ávido". 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 #32,018 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.