ceovsclãConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#8,861
“ceo” frequency rank
#8,588
“clã” frequency rank
17449
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ceo clã
Definition nevoeiro; neblina grupo de famílias que se consideram descendentes dos mesmos ancestrais

Where the eye mixes ceo and clã

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
ceo
3 ch
clã

Look-alike desk: ceo vs clã

A purely visual mix-up. ceo (/coː/) and clã (/ˈklɐ̃/) 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 17449, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ceo is recorded at frequency rank #8,861, classified as anoun, pronounced /coː/. clã is at rank #8,588, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈklɐ̃/.

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 17449, this pair ranks #53,794 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ceo vs clã

Shared letters: c. Private to "ceo": eo. Private to "clã": .

"ceo" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "clã" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ceo" and "clã" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/coː/ versus /ˈklɐ̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "ceo" or "clã" show up more?
"clã" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,588 in our Portuguese list, against #8,861 for "ceo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ceo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "clã" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #53,794 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ceo" and "clã" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chau vs clã". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #53,794 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