cheio vs clero, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“cheio” is an adjective and “clero” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,424
“cheio” frequency rank: #16,470
“clero” frequency rank: 17894
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	cheio	clero
Definition	completamente preenchido; que contém o máximo que pode conter	classe ou ordem religiosa

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cheio and clero apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

cheio

5 ch

clero

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cheio is /ˈʃɐj.u/ while clero is /ˈklɛ.ɾu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17894, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cheio is recorded at frequency rank #1,424, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈʃɐj.u/. clero is at rank #16,470, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈklɛ.ɾu/.

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 17894, this pair ranks #53,239 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cheio vs clero

Shared letters: ceo. Private to "cheio": hi. Private to "clero": lr.

"cheio" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV · "clero" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

cheio ← ccheio · cehio · cheoi · chheio · chieo · hceio
clero ← cclero · celro · cleor · clerro · cllero · clreo · lcero

Frequency comparison

cheio#1,424

clero#16,470

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cheio" and "clero" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cheio" is an adjective and "clero" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "cheio" or "clero"?

"cheio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,424 in our Portuguese list, against #16,470 for "clero". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering cheio vs clero

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “cheio”; for a noun, it's “clero”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cheio” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable