escadavsescovaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#5,626
“escada” frequency rank
#11,061
“escova” frequency rank
16687
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature escada escova
Definition equipamento formado por degraus que é usado para subir e descer de lugares altos utensílio guarnecido de pelos, sedas, fibras de plástico, fios de arame, etc. que serve para limpar; pode ser usado em roupas, tecidos, móveis, etc

Where the eye mixes escada and escova

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

6 ch
escada
6 ch
escova

Visual trap between escada and escova

A purely visual mix-up. escada (/isˈka.dɐ/, /esˈka.dɐ/) and escova (/iʃ.ˈkɔ.vɐ/) 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 16687, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

escada is recorded at frequency rank #5,626, classified as anoun, pronounced /isˈka.dɐ/, /esˈka.dɐ/. escova is at rank #11,061, tagged as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈkɔ.vɐ/.

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 16687, this pair ranks #54,783 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of escada vs escova

Shared letters: aces. Private to "escada": d. Private to "escova": ov.

"escada" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "escova" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • escadaecsada · esacda · escaad · escadda · esccada · escdaa · esscada · secada
  • escovaecsova · esccova · escoav · escovva · escvoa · esocva · esscova · secova

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "escada" and "escova" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/isˈka.dɐ/, /esˈka.dɐ/ versus /iʃ.ˈkɔ.vɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "escada" or "escova"?
"escada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,626 in our Portuguese list, against #11,061 for "escova". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "escada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "escova" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #54,783 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "escada" and "escova" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "escoar vs escova". 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 #54,783 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