direitovsdiretoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#262
“direito” frequency rank
#1,671
“direto” frequency rank
1933
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature direito direto
Definition que segue ou se estende em linha reta que segue em linha reta

Where the eye mixes direito and direto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. direito runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against direto's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
direito
6 ch
direto

Look-alike desk: direito vs direto

A purely visual mix-up. direito (/di.ˈɾɐj.tu/) and direto (/di.ˈɾɛ.tu/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1933, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

direito is recorded at frequency rank #262, classified as anadj, pronounced /di.ˈɾɐj.tu/. direto is at rank #1,671, tagged as anadj, pronounced /di.ˈɾɛ.tu/.

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 1933, this pair ranks #73,586 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of direito vs direto

Shared letters: deiort. Private to "direito": -. Private to "direto": -.

"direito" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "direto" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • direito ← ddireito · dierito · direiot · direitto · diretio · dirieto · dirreito · drieito
  • direto ← ddireto · dierto · direot · diretto · dirreto · dirteo · drieto · idreto

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "direito" for "direto" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/di.ˈɾɐj.tu/ versus /di.ˈɾɛ.tu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "direito" vs "direto" - which ranks higher?
"direito" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #262 in our Portuguese list, against #1,671 for "direto". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "direito" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "direto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #73,586 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "direito" and "direto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "direto vs dreno". 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 #73,586 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