filiarvsfixarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,026
“filiar” frequency rank
#13,303
“fixar” frequency rank
54329
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature filiar fixar
Definition tomar como filho, adotar tornar fixo, firme, seguro

Where the eye mixes filiar and fixar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
filiar
5 ch
fixar

Look-alike desk: filiar vs fixar

A purely visual mix-up. filiar (/fi.ˈljaɾ/) and fixar (/fi.ˈksaɾ/) 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 54329, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

filiar is recorded at frequency rank #41,026, classified as averb, pronounced /fi.ˈljaɾ/. fixar is at rank #13,303, tagged as averb, pronounced /fi.ˈksaɾ/.

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 54329, this pair ranks #11,344 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of filiar vs fixar

Shared letters: afir. Private to "filiar": l. Private to "fixar": x.

"filiar" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "fixar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • filiarffiliar · fiilar · filair · filiarr · filira · filliar · fliiar · ifliar
  • fixarffixar · fiaxr · fixarr · fixra · fixxar · fxiar · ifxar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "filiar" and "fixar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/fi.ˈljaɾ/ versus /fi.ˈksaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "filiar" or "fixar"?
"fixar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,303 in our Portuguese list, against #41,026 for "filiar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "filiar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fixar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #11,344 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "filiar" and "fixar" 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 #11,344 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