débil vs dócil, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#28,176
“débil” frequency rank: #30,118
“dócil” frequency rank: 58294
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	débil	dócil
Definition	que não resiste o suficiente	submisso

Where the eye mixes débil and dócil

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch

débil

5 ch

dócil

Look-alike desk: débil vs dócil

A purely visual mix-up. débil (/ˈdɛ.biɫ/) and dócil (/ˈdɔ.siɫ/) 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 58294, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

débil is recorded at frequency rank #28,176, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈdɛ.biɫ/. dócil is at rank #30,118, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈdɔ.siɫ/.

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 58294, this pair ranks #8,826 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of débil vs dócil

Shared letters: dil. Private to "débil": bé. Private to "dócil": có.

"débil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "dócil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "débil" and "dócil" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ˈdɛ.biɫ/ versus /ˈdɔ.siɫ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Frequency check: "débil" vs "dócil" - which ranks higher?

"débil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,176 in our Portuguese list, against #30,118 for "dócil". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "débil" and "dócil" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

Full dictionary entry for "débil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "dócil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #8,826 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"débil" and "dócil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débil vs devi". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #8,826 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.