decimalvsdecisãoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: decimal is a adjective, decisão is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“decimal” is an adjective and “decisão” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,221
“decimal” frequency rank
#669
“decisão” frequency rank
34890
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decimal decisão
Definition relativo a dez ou à décima parte ação ou resultado de decidir

Where the eye mixes decimal and decisão

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

7 ch
decimal
7 ch
decisão

Look-alike desk: decimal vs decisão

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: decimal is /dɛ.si.ˈmaɫ/ while decisão is /dɨ.si.ˈzɐ̃w̃/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34890, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decimal is recorded at frequency rank #34,221, classified as anadj, pronounced /dɛ.si.ˈmaɫ/. decisão is at rank #669, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɨ.si.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 34890, this pair ranks #32,254 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of decimal vs decisão

Shared letters: cdei. Private to "decimal": alm. Private to "decisão": osã.

"decimal" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "decisão" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • decimaldceimal · ddecimal · deccimal · deciaml · decimall · decimla · decimmal · decmial

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "decimal" for "decisão" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "decimal" is an adjective and "decisão" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "decimal" or "decisão"?
"decisão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #669 in our Portuguese list, against #34,221 for "decimal". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "decimal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "decisão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #32,254 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decimal" and "decisão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decimal vs décimo". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #32,254 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