baiãovsbaileTell them apart

Which to use

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

#30,438
“baião” frequency rank
#3,664
“baile” frequency rank
34102
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baião baile
Definition tabua-larga (Typha latifolia) reunião de pessoas para dançar

Where the eye mixes baião and baile

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. baião (CVVVV) and baile (CVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
baião
5 ch
baile

Look-alike desk: baião vs baile

A purely visual mix-up. baião (/baj.'oŋ/) and baile (/ˈbaj.lɨ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34102, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

baião is recorded at frequency rank #30,438, classified as anoun, pronounced /baj.'oŋ/. baile is at rank #3,664, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbaj.lɨ/.

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 34102, this pair ranks #33,257 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of baião vs baile

Shared letters: abi. Private to "baião": oã. Private to "baile": el.

"baião" · 5 letters · shape CVVVV  ·  "baile" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • baile ← abile · baiel · baille · balie · bbaile · biale

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "baião" and "baile" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/baj.'oŋ/ versus /ˈbaj.lɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "baião" or "baile"?
"baile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,664 in our Portuguese list, against #30,438 for "baião". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "baião" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "baile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #33,257 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "baião" and "baile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "baião vs bailar". 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 #33,257 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