Which to use
“baile” and “bile” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,664
- “baile” frequency rank
- #49,325
- “bile” frequency rank
- 52989
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | baile | bile |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | reunião de pessoas para dançar | substância amarelo-esverdeada secretada pelo fígado dos vertebrados e que atua no duodeno auxiliando especialmente na emulsificação e absorção das gorduras (é armazenada na vesícula biliar) |
Where the eye mixes baile and bile
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. baile runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against bile's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses baile with bile
A purely visual mix-up. baile (/ˈbaj.lɨ/) and bile (/ˈbi.li/) 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 52989, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
baile is recorded at frequency rank #3,664, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbaj.lɨ/. bile is at rank #49,325, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbi.li/.
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 52989, this pair ranks #12,352 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of baile vs bile
Shared letters: beil. Private to "baile": a. Private to "bile": -.
"baile" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "bile" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "baile" for "bile" ever safe?
Frequency check: "baile" vs "bile" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "baile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #12,352 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "baile" and "bile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bile vs bué". 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 #12,352 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.