Which to use
“cisão” and “cisma” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,806
- “cisão” frequency rank
- #32,106
- “cisma” frequency rank
- 68912
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cisão | cisma |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato de cindir | ato de cismar, de cogitar |
Where the eye mixes cisão and cisma
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cisão (CVCVV) and cisma (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: cisão vs cisma
A purely visual mix-up. cisão (/si.ˈzɐ̃w̃/) and cisma (/ˈsiʒ.mɐ/) 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 68912, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cisão is recorded at frequency rank #36,806, classified as anoun, pronounced /si.ˈzɐ̃w̃/. cisma is at rank #32,106, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsiʒ.mɐ/.
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 68912, this pair ranks #4,108 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cisão vs cisma
Shared letters: cis. Private to "cisão": oã. Private to "cisma": am.
"cisão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "cisma" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cisma ← ccisma · cimsa · cisam · cismma · cissma · csima · icsma
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cisão" for "cisma" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cisão" vs "cisma" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cisão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cisma" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #4,108 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cisão" and "cisma" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ciao vs cisão". 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 #4,108 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.