Which to use
“complicação” and “comunicação” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,968
- “complicação” frequency rank
- #738
- “comunicação” frequency rank
- 22706
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | complicação | comunicação |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato ou efeito de complicar | ato ou efeito de comunicar(-se) |
Where the eye mixes complicação and comunicação
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. complicação (CVCCCVCVCVV) and comunicação (CVCVCVCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between complicação and comunicação
A purely visual mix-up. complicação (/kõ.pli.kɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and comunicação (/ku.mu.ni.kɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) 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 22706, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
complicação is recorded at frequency rank #21,968, classified as anoun, pronounced /kõ.pli.kɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. comunicação is at rank #738, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ku.mu.ni.kɐ.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 22706, this pair ranks #47,281 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of complicação vs comunicação
Shared letters: acimoãç. Private to "complicação": lp. Private to "comunicação": nu.
"complicação" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVV · "comunicação" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "complicação" for "comunicação" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "complicação" or "comunicação" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "complicação" and "comunicação" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "complicação" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "comunicação" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #47,281 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "complicação" and "comunicação" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "compilação vs complicação". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #47,281 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.