átomovsatorWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,055
“átomo” frequency rank
#2,556
“ator” frequency rank
23611
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature átomo ator
Definition menor partícula em que se pode dividir um elemento, exibindo ainda todas as características típicas do comportamento químico desse elemento pessoa que representa uma personagem no teatro ou no cinema

Where the eye mixes átomo and ator

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
átomo
4 ch
ator

Visual trap between átomo and ator

A purely visual mix-up. átomo (/ˈa.tu.mu/) and ator (/a.ˈtoɾ/) 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 23611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

átomo is recorded at frequency rank #21,055, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.tu.mu/. ator is at rank #2,556, tagged as anoun, pronounced /a.ˈtoɾ/.

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 23611, this pair ranks #46,191 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of átomo vs ator

Shared letters: ot. Private to "átomo": . Private to "ator": ar.

"átomo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "ator" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • atoraotr · atorr · atro · attor · taor

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "átomo" for "ator" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈa.tu.mu/ versus /a.ˈtoɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "átomo" or "ator" show up more?
"ator" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,556 in our Portuguese list, against #21,055 for "átomo". 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 "átomo" and "ator" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "átomo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ator" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #46,191 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "átomo" and "ator" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "álamo vs átomo". 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 #46,191 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