Which to use
“decisão” is a noun and “decisivo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #669
- “decisão” frequency rank
- #8,600
- “decisivo” frequency rank
- 9269
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | decisão | decisivo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ação ou resultado de decidir | que decide |
Where the eye mixes decisão and decisivo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: decisão vs decisivo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: decisão is /dɨ.si.ˈzɐ̃w̃/ while decisivo is /dɨ.si.ˈzi.vu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9269, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
decisão is recorded at frequency rank #669, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɨ.si.ˈzɐ̃w̃/. decisivo is at rank #8,600, tagged as anadj, pronounced /dɨ.si.ˈzi.vu/.
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 9269, this pair ranks #64,218 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of decisão vs decisivo
Shared letters: cdeios. Private to "decisão": ã. Private to "decisivo": v.
"decisão" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "decisivo" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- decisivo ← dceisivo · ddecisivo · deccisivo · deciisvo · decisiov · decisivvo · decissivo · decisvio
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "decisão" and "decisivo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "decisão" or "decisivo" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "decisão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "decisivo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #64,218 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "decisão" and "decisivo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decision vs decisivo". 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 #64,218 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.