Which to use
“contramão” and “contrário” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,548
- “contramão” frequency rank
- #1,026
- “contrário” frequency rank
- 19574
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contramão | contrário |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que está na contramão (substantivo) | oposto |
Where the eye mixes contramão and contrário
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. contramão and contrário follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses contramão with contrário
A purely visual mix-up. contramão (/ˌkõw.tɾa.ˈmãw/) and contrário (/kõ.ˈtɾa.ɾju/) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19574, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contramão is recorded at frequency rank #18,548, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˌkõw.tɾa.ˈmãw/. contrário is at rank #1,026, tagged as anadj, pronounced /kõ.ˈtɾa.ɾju/.
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 19574, this pair ranks #51,104 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of contramão vs contrário
Shared letters: cnort. Private to "contramão": amã. Private to "contrário": iá.
"contramão" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVV · "contrário" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "contramão" and "contrário" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "contramão" or "contrário" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "contramão" and "contrário" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "contramão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contrário" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #51,104 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contramão" and "contrário" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contração vs contramão". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #51,104 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.