Which to use
“exceção” and “excesso” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,327
- “exceção” frequency rank
- #5,422
- “excesso” frequency rank
- 8749
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | exceção | excesso |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato ou efeito de excetuar | diferença para mais: |
Where the eye mixes exceção and excesso
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. exceção (VCCVCVV) and excesso (VCCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between exceção and excesso
A purely visual mix-up. exceção (/ɐjʃ.sɛ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and excesso (/ɐjʃ.ˈsɛ.su/) 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 8749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
exceção is recorded at frequency rank #3,327, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɐjʃ.sɛ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. excesso is at rank #5,422, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɐjʃ.ˈsɛ.su/.
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 8749, this pair ranks #64,907 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of exceção vs excesso
Shared letters: ceox. Private to "exceção": ãç. Private to "excesso": s.
"exceção" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV · "excesso" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- excesso ← ecxesso · exccesso · exceso · excesos · excseso · execsso · exxcesso · xecesso
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "exceção" and "excesso" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "exceção" vs "excesso" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "exceção" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "excesso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #64,907 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "exceção" and "excesso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "excerto vs excesso". 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 #64,907 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.