Which to use
“bad” and “baús” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,699
- “bad” frequency rank
- #47,199
- “baús” frequency rank
- 51898
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bad | baús |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | banho | plural de baú |
Where the eye mixes bad and baús
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. bad runs 3 letters (CVC) against baús's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between bad and baús
A purely visual mix-up. bad (/bɑt/) and baús (/bɐ.ˈu/) 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 51898, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bad is recorded at frequency rank #4,699, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɑt/. baús is at rank #47,199, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɐ.ˈu/.
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 51898, this pair ranks #13,207 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bad vs baús
Shared letters: ab. Private to "bad": d. Private to "baús": sú.
"bad" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "baús" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bad" and "baús" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "bad" or "baús" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "bad" and "baús" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bad" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "baús" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #13,207 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bad" and "baús" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "baús vs bué". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #13,207 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.