colchãovscolisãoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#11,832
“colchão” frequency rank
#9,976
“colisão” frequency rank
21808
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature colchão colisão
Definition grande almofada cheia de uma substância flexível sobre a qual as pessoas se deitam choque

Where the eye mixes colchão and colisão

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. colchão (CVCCCVV) and colisão (CVCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
colchão
7 ch
colisão

Why the eye confuses colchão with colisão

A purely visual mix-up. colchão (/koɫ.ˈʃɐ̃w̃/) and colisão (/ku.li.ˈzɐ̃w̃/) 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 21808, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

colchão is recorded at frequency rank #11,832, classified as anoun, pronounced /koɫ.ˈʃɐ̃w̃/. colisão is at rank #9,976, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ku.li.ˈzɐ̃w̃/.

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 21808, this pair ranks #48,369 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of colchão vs colisão

Shared letters: cloã. Private to "colchão": h. Private to "colisão": is.

"colchão" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVV  ·  "colisão" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "colchão" and "colisão" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/koɫ.ˈʃɐ̃w̃/ versus /ku.li.ˈzɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "colchão" vs "colisão" - which ranks higher?
"colisão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,976 in our Portuguese list, against #11,832 for "colchão". 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 "colchão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "colisão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #48,369 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "colchão" and "colisão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "colchão vs comichão". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #48,369 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