faíscavsfiscoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#27,481
“faísca” frequency rank
#38,286
“fisco” frequency rank
65767
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature faísca fisco
Definition descarga elétrica entre dois corpos eletrizados recursos destinados à manutenção do príncipe da Roma Imperial

Where the eye mixes faísca and fisco

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. faísca runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against fisco's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
faísca
5 ch
fisco

Visual trap between faísca and fisco

A purely visual mix-up. faísca (/fɐ.ˈiʃ.kɐ/) and fisco (/ˈfiʃ.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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65767, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

faísca is recorded at frequency rank #27,481, classified as anoun, pronounced /fɐ.ˈiʃ.kɐ/. fisco is at rank #38,286, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfiʃ.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 65767, this pair ranks #5,252 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of faísca vs fisco

Shared letters: cfs. Private to "faísca": . Private to "fisco": io.

"faísca" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "fisco" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fiscoffisco · ficso · fiscco · fisoc · fissco · fsico · ifsco

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "faísca" for "fisco" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/fɐ.ˈiʃ.kɐ/ versus /ˈfiʃ.ku/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "faísca" or "fisco"?
"faísca" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,481 in our Portuguese list, against #38,286 for "fisco". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "faísca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fisco" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #5,252 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "faísca" and "fisco" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filão vs fisco". 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 #5,252 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