fodãovsfoscoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#37,813
“fodão” frequency rank
#48,427
“fosco” frequency rank
86240
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fodão fosco
Definition diz-se de quem fode muito não brunido, sem brilho, embaciado, não transparente

Where the eye mixes fodão and fosco

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fodão (CVCVV) and fosco (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
fodão
5 ch
fosco

Look-alike desk: fodão vs fosco

A purely visual mix-up. fodão (/fo.'doŋ/) and fosco (/ˈfoʃ.ku/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86240, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fodão is recorded at frequency rank #37,813, classified as anadj, pronounced /fo.'doŋ/. fosco is at rank #48,427, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈfoʃ.ku/.

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 86240, this pair ranks #594 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fodão vs fosco

Shared letters: fo. Private to "fodão": dã. Private to "fosco": cs.

"fodão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "fosco" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fosco ← ffosco · focso · foscco · fosoc · fossco · fsoco · ofsco

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fodão" and "fosco" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/fo.'doŋ/ versus /ˈfoʃ.ku/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "fodão" vs "fosco" - which ranks higher?
"fodão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,813 in our Portuguese list, against #48,427 for "fosco". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fodão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fosco" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #594 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fodão" and "fosco" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filão vs fodão". 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 #594 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