Which to use
“gentil” and “gentle” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,415
- “gentil” frequency rank
- #46,349
- “gentle” frequency rank
- 53764
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gentil | gentle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | amável, agradável | gentil |
Where the eye mixes gentil and gentle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gentil (CVCCVC) and gentle (CVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: gentil vs gentle
A purely visual mix-up. gentil (/ʒɑ̃.ti/) and gentle (/ˈd͡ʒɛntl̩/) 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 53764, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gentil is recorded at frequency rank #7,415, classified as anadj, pronounced /ʒɑ̃.ti/. gentle is at rank #46,349, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈd͡ʒɛntl̩/.
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 53764, this pair ranks #11,797 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of gentil vs gentle
Shared letters: eglnt. Private to "gentil": i. Private to "gentle": -.
"gentil" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "gentle" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gentil" and "gentle" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "gentil" vs "gentle" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gentil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gentle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #11,797 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gentil" and "gentle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "génese vs gentle". 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 #11,797 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.