Which to use
“atlético” is an adjective and “atletismo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,744
- “atlético” frequency rank
- #8,005
- “atletismo” frequency rank
- 11749
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | atlético | atletismo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | relativo a ou próprio de atleta ou de atletismo | conjunto de desportos individuais que consistem em provas de velocidade ou força física (salto e lançamento), disputadas ao ar livre |
Letter map: atlético vs atletismo
Shared letters muted; letters that set atlético and atletismo apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. atlético runs 8 letters (VCCVCVCV) against atletismo's 9 (VCCVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Role in the sentence - atlético and atletismo
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: atlético is anadjective and atletismoanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
atlético is recorded at frequency rank #3,744, classified as anadj. atletismo is at rank #8,005, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.tlɛ.ˈtiʒ.mu/.
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 11749, this pair ranks #61,040 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of atlético vs atletismo
Shared letters: ailot. Private to "atlético": cé. Private to "atletismo": ems.
"atlético" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV · "atletismo" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- atletismo ← altetismo · ateltismo · atleitsmo · atletimso · atletismmo · atletisom · atletissmo · atletsimo
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "atlético" for "atletismo" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "atlético" or "atletismo" show up more?
What to do next
You've compared "atlético" and "atletismo". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "atlético" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "atletismo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #61,040 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "atlético" and "atletismo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "atlântico vs atlético". 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 #61,040 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.