fumovsfusoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,658
“fumo” frequency rank
#20,614
“fuso” frequency rank
27272
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fumo fuso
Definition mistura complexa de gases, vapores e partículas em suspensão que se desprendem dos corpos aquecidos ou em combustão seção de superfície esférica compreendida entre dois semi-círculos de uma esfera

Where the eye mixes fumo and fuso

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fumo and fuso follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
fumo
4 ch
fuso

Why the eye confuses fumo with fuso

A purely visual mix-up. fumo (/ˈfu.mu/) and fuso (/ˈfu.zu/) 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 a single letter - m in “fumo” becomes s in “fuso”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27272, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fumo is recorded at frequency rank #6,658, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfu.mu/. fuso is at rank #20,614, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfu.zu/.

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 27272, this pair ranks #41,730 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fumo vs fuso

Shared letters: fou. Private to "fumo": m. Private to "fuso": s.

"fumo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "fuso" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fumo ← ffumo · fmuo · fummo · fuom · ufmo
  • fuso ← ffuso · fsuo · fuos · fusso · ufso

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fumo" and "fuso" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈfu.mu/ versus /ˈfu.zu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "fumo" or "fuso" show up more?
"fumo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,658 in our Portuguese list, against #20,614 for "fuso". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "fumo" and "fuso" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fumo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fuso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #41,730 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fumo" and "fuso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fosco vs fuso". 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 #41,730 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