Which to use
“familiar” is an adjective and “filiar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,187
- “familiar” frequency rank
- #41,026
- “filiar” frequency rank
- 43213
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | familiar | filiar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que é da família | tomar como filho, adotar |
Where the eye mixes familiar and filiar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. familiar runs 8 letters (CVCVCVVC) against filiar's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses familiar with filiar
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: familiar is /fɐ.mi.ˈljaɾ/ while filiar is /fi.ˈljaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43213, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
familiar is recorded at frequency rank #2,187, classified as anadj, pronounced /fɐ.mi.ˈljaɾ/. filiar is at rank #41,026, tagged as averb, pronounced /fi.ˈljaɾ/.
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 43213, this pair ranks #22,454 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of familiar vs filiar
Shared letters: afilr. Private to "familiar": m. Private to "filiar": -.
"familiar" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "filiar" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "familiar" and "filiar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "familiar" vs "filiar" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "familiar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "filiar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #22,454 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "familiar" and "filiar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filão vs filiar". 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 #22,454 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.