baçovsbakConfusable pair

Quick tell: baço is a adjective, bak is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“baço” is an adjective and “bak” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,254
“baço” frequency rank
#38,589
“bak” frequency rank
69843
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baço bak
Definition diz-se da cor sem brilho, embaciada retaguarda, parte traseira

Where the eye mixes baço and bak

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. baço runs 4 letters (CVCV) against bak's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
baço
3 ch
bak

Visual trap between baço and bak

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: baço is /ˈba.su/ while bak is /ˈbaːk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

baço is recorded at frequency rank #31,254, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈba.su/. bak is at rank #38,589, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbaːk/.

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 69843, this pair ranks #3,824 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of baço vs bak

Shared letters: ab. Private to "baço": oç. Private to "bak": k.

"baço" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "bak" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "baço" for "bak" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "baço" is an adjective and "bak" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "baço" or "bak" show up more?
"baço" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,254 in our Portuguese list, against #38,589 for "bak". 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 "baço" and "bak" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "baço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bak" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #3,824 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "baço" and "bak" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bak vs bué". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #3,824 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