comissão vs confissão, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#951
“comissão” frequency rank: #8,869
“confissão” frequency rank: 9820
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	comissão	confissão
Definition	encargo	profissão de fé

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set comissão and confissão apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

comissão

9 ch

confissão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. comissão (/ku.mi.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and confissão (/kõ.fi.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9820, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

comissão is recorded at frequency rank #951, classified as anoun, pronounced /ku.mi.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. confissão is at rank #8,869, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kõ.fi.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.

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 9820, this pair ranks #63,481 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of comissão vs confissão

Shared letters: ciosã. Private to "comissão": m. Private to "confissão": fn.

"comissão" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV · "confissão" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVV

Frequency comparison

comissão#951

confissão#8,869

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "comissão" and "confissão" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ku.mi.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ versus /kõ.fi.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "comissão" or "confissão"?

"comissão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #951 in our Portuguese list, against #8,869 for "confissão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering comissão vs confissão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “comissão” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable