estilovsestimaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#956
“estilo” frequency rank
#3,260
“estima” frequency rank
4216
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature estilo estima
Definition maneira especial de fazer, dizer, escrever, compor, pintar, etc afeição que sentimos

Where the eye mixes estilo and estima

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

6 ch
estilo
6 ch
estima

Look-alike desk: estilo vs estima

A purely visual mix-up. estilo (/iʃ.ˈti.lu/) and estima (/iʃ.ˈti.mɐ/) 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 4216, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

estilo is recorded at frequency rank #956, classified as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈti.lu/. estima is at rank #3,260, tagged as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈti.mɐ/.

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 4216, this pair ranks #70,772 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of estilo vs estima

Shared letters: eist. Private to "estilo": lo. Private to "estima": am.

"estilo" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "estima" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • estiloesitlo · esstilo · estillo · estiol · estlio · esttilo · etsilo · setilo
  • estimaesitma · esstima · estiam · estimma · estmia · esttima · etsima · setima

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "estilo" and "estima" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/iʃ.ˈti.lu/ versus /iʃ.ˈti.mɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "estilo" or "estima" show up more?
"estilo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #956 in our Portuguese list, against #3,260 for "estima". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "estilo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "estima" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #70,772 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "estilo" and "estima" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espia vs estima". 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 #70,772 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