Which to use
“feio” is an adjective and “fil” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,727
- “feio” frequency rank
- #35,592
- “fil” frequency rank
- 40319
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feio | fil |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | não estético, horrendo | fio |
Where the eye mixes feio and fil
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses feio with fil
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feio is /ˈfɐj.u/ while fil is /fil/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 40319, 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/. fil is at rank #35,592, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fil/.
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 40319, this pair ranks #25,811 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of feio vs fil
Shared letters: fi. Private to "feio": eo. Private to "fil": l.
"feio" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "fil" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- feio ← efio · feoi · ffeio · fieo
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "feio" for "fil" ever safe?
Frequency check: "feio" vs "fil" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "feio" and "fil" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "feio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,811 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "feio" and "fil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fil vs filão". 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 #25,811 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.