Which to use
“calão” and “canhão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,032
- “calão” frequency rank
- #11,596
- “canhão” frequency rank
- 50628
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | calão | canhão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que não trabalha tanto quanto deveria | mulher muito feia |
Where the eye mixes calão and canhão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. calão runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against canhão's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: calão vs canhão
A purely visual mix-up. calão (/kɐ.ˈlɐ̃w̃/) and canhão (/kɐ.ˈɲɐ̃w̃/) 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 50628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
calão is recorded at frequency rank #39,032, classified as anadj, pronounced /kɐ.ˈlɐ̃w̃/. canhão is at rank #11,596, tagged as anadj, pronounced /kɐ.ˈɲɐ̃w̃/.
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 50628, this pair ranks #14,328 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of calão vs canhão
Shared letters: acoã. Private to "calão": l. Private to "canhão": hn.
"calão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "canhão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "calão" for "canhão" ever safe?
Frequency check: "calão" vs "canhão" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "calão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "canhão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #14,328 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "calão" and "canhão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calão vs ciao". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #14,328 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.