feio vs feitio, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“feio” is an adjective and “feitio” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,727
“feio” frequency rank: #22,321
“feitio” frequency rank: 27048
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	feio	feitio
Definition	não estético, horrendo	forma

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set feio and feitio apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

feio

6 ch

feitio

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feio is /ˈfɐj.u/ while feitio is /fɐj.ˈti.u/. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27048, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feio is recorded at frequency rank #4,727, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈfɐj.u/. feitio is at rank #22,321, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fɐj.ˈti.u/.

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 27048, this pair ranks #41,979 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of feio vs feitio

Shared letters: efio. Private to "feio": -. Private to "feitio": t.

"feio" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "feitio" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

feio ← efio · feoi · ffeio · fieo
feitio ← efitio · feiito · feitoi · feittio · fetiio · ffeitio · fietio

Frequency comparison

feio#4,727

feitio#22,321

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "feio" and "feitio" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "feio" is an adjective and "feitio" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "feio" or "feitio"?

"feio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,727 in our Portuguese list, against #22,321 for "feitio". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering feio vs feitio

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “feio”; for a noun, it's “feitio”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “feio” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable