Which to use
“exterior” and “externo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,675
- “exterior” frequency rank
- #6,420
- “externo” frequency rank
- 8095
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | exterior | externo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | do lado mais externo; do lado de fora | que está do lado de fora |
Where the eye mixes exterior and externo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. exterior runs 8 letters (VCCVCVVC) against externo's 7 (VCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between exterior and externo
A purely visual mix-up. exterior (/ɐjʃ.tɨ.ˈɾjoɾ/) and externo (/ɪs.ˈter.nu/) 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 8095, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
exterior is recorded at frequency rank #1,675, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɐjʃ.tɨ.ˈɾjoɾ/. externo is at rank #6,420, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɪs.ˈter.nu/.
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 8095, this pair ranks #65,803 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of exterior vs externo
Shared letters: eortx. Private to "exterior": i. Private to "externo": n.
"exterior" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC · "externo" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "exterior" for "externo" ever safe?
Which is more common, "exterior" or "externo"?
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 "exterior" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "externo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #65,803 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "exterior" and "externo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "esterno vs externo". 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 #65,803 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.