ciaovscimoTell them apart

Quick tell: ciao is a intj, cimo is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ciao” is an intj and “cimo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,244
“ciao” frequency rank
#25,235
“cimo” frequency rank
72479
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ciao cimo
Definition olá a parte mais alta

Where the eye mixes ciao and cimo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
ciao
4 ch
cimo

Visual trap between ciao and cimo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ciao is [ˈtʃaː.o], /ˈtʃao/ while cimo is /ˈsi.mu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “ciao” becomes m in “cimo”, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72479, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ciao is recorded at frequency rank #47,244, classified as anintj, pronounced [ˈtʃaː.o], /ˈtʃao/. cimo is at rank #25,235, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsi.mu/.

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 72479, this pair ranks #3,038 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ciao vs cimo

Shared letters: cio. Private to "ciao": a. Private to "cimo": m.

"ciao" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "cimo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ciaocaio · cciao · cioa · icao
  • cimoccimo · cimmo · ciom · cmio · icmo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ciao" and "cimo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ciao" is an intj and "cimo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ciao" vs "cimo" - which ranks higher?
"cimo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,235 in our Portuguese list, against #47,244 for "ciao". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "ciao" and "cimo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ciao" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cimo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #3,038 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ciao" and "cimo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chau vs ciao". 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 #3,038 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