atrasovsátrioWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,206
“atraso” frequency rank
#26,601
“átrio” frequency rank
30807
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature atraso átrio
Definition ato ou efeito de atrasar(-se) vestíbulo que vai da entrada principal à escadaria

Where the eye mixes atraso and átrio

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. atraso runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against átrio's 5 (VCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
atraso
5 ch
átrio

Why the eye confuses atraso with átrio

A purely visual mix-up. atraso (/ɐ.ˈtɾa.zu/) and átrio (/ˈa.tɾju/) 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 30807, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

atraso is recorded at frequency rank #4,206, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.ˈtɾa.zu/. átrio is at rank #26,601, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.tɾju/.

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 30807, this pair ranks #37,452 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of atraso vs átrio

Shared letters: ort. Private to "atraso": as. Private to "átrio": .

"atraso" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "átrio" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • atrasoartaso · atarso · atraos · atrasso · atrraso · atrsao · attraso · taraso

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "atraso" for "átrio" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ɐ.ˈtɾa.zu/ versus /ˈa.tɾju/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "atraso" vs "átrio" - which ranks higher?
"atraso" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,206 in our Portuguese list, against #26,601 for "átrio". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "atraso" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "átrio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #37,452 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "atraso" and "átrio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "átrio vs atroz". 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 #37,452 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