bélicovsbiliãoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#26,655
“bélico” frequency rank
#44,716
“bilião” frequency rank
71371
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bélico bilião
Definition relativo a guerra milhão de milhões (10¹² = 1.000.000.000.000)

Where the eye mixes bélico and bilião

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. bélico (CVCVCV) and bilião (CVCVVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
bélico
6 ch
bilião

Look-alike desk: bélico vs bilião

A purely visual mix-up. bélico (/ˈbɛ.li.ku/) and bilião (/bi.ˈljɐ̃w̃/) 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 71371, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bélico is recorded at frequency rank #26,655, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈbɛ.li.ku/. bilião is at rank #44,716, tagged as anadj, pronounced /bi.ˈljɐ̃w̃/.

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 71371, this pair ranks #3,352 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bélico vs bilião

Shared letters: bilo. Private to "bélico": cé. Private to "bilião": ã.

"bélico" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "bilião" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bélico" for "bilião" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈbɛ.li.ku/ versus /bi.ˈljɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bélico" vs "bilião" - which ranks higher?
"bélico" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,655 in our Portuguese list, against #44,716 for "bilião". 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 "bélico" and "bilião" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bélico" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bilião" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #3,352 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bélico" and "bilião" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bilião vs biliar". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #3,352 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