éticovsexóticoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#14,268
“ético” frequency rank
#19,718
“exótico” frequency rank
33986
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ético exótico
Definition relativo à ética ou à moral diz-se de algo que vem de fora, ou seja, não é originário do mesmo país

Where the eye mixes ético and exótico

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ético runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against exótico's 7 (VCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
ético
7 ch
exótico

Look-alike desk: ético vs exótico

A purely visual mix-up. ético (/ˈɛ.ti.ku/) and exótico (/i.ˈzɔ.ti.ku/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33986, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ético is recorded at frequency rank #14,268, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɛ.ti.ku/. exótico is at rank #19,718, tagged as anadj, pronounced /i.ˈzɔ.ti.ku/.

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 33986, this pair ranks #33,395 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ético vs exótico

Shared letters: ciot. Private to "ético": é. Private to "exótico": exó.

"ético" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "exótico" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ético" and "exótico" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈɛ.ti.ku/ versus /i.ˈzɔ.ti.ku/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "ético" or "exótico" show up more?
"ético" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,268 in our Portuguese list, against #19,718 for "exótico". 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 "ético" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "exótico" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #33,395 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ético" and "exótico" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eólico vs exótico". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #33,395 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