Which to use
“feras” is an adjective and “ferrão” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,182
- “feras” frequency rank
- #31,372
- “ferrão” frequency rank
- 52554
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feras | ferrão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | forma feminina plural de fero | órgão retrátil dos insetos |
Where the eye mixes feras and ferrão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. feras runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against ferrão's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between feras and ferrão
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feras is /ˈfɛ.ɾɐs/ while ferrão is /fɨ.ˈRɐ̃w̃/. 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 52554, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
feras is recorded at frequency rank #21,182, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈfɛ.ɾɐs/. ferrão is at rank #31,372, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fɨ.ˈRɐ̃w̃/.
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 52554, this pair ranks #12,681 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of feras vs ferrão
Shared letters: efr. Private to "feras": as. Private to "ferrão": oã.
"feras" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "ferrão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- feras ← efras · fears · ferass · ferras · fersa · fferas · freas
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "feras" for "ferrão" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "feras" or "ferrão" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "feras" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ferrão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #12,681 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "feras" and "ferrão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ferrão vs fierro". 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 #12,681 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.