GolfvsgomaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,820
“Golf” frequency rank
#19,450
“goma” frequency rank
35270
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Golf goma
Definition golfo exsudação das plantas de aspecto viscoso e transparente

Where the eye mixes Golf and goma

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Golf (CVCC) and goma (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
Golf
4 ch
goma

Why the eye confuses Golf with goma

A purely visual mix-up. Golf (/gɔlf/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) and goma (/ˈɡo.mɐ/) 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 35270, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Golf is recorded at frequency rank #15,820, classified as anoun, pronounced /gɔlf/ ouvir^(fonte ?). goma is at rank #19,450, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡo.mɐ/.

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 35270, this pair ranks #31,792 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Golf vs goma

Shared letters: go. Private to "Golf": fl. Private to "goma": am.

"Golf" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "goma" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Golf ← ggolf · glof · gofl · golff · gollf · oglf
  • goma ← ggoma · gmoa · goam · gomma · ogma

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Golf" for "goma" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/gɔlf/ ouvir^(fonte ?) versus /ˈɡo.mɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Golf" vs "goma" - which ranks higher?
"Golf" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,820 in our Portuguese list, against #19,450 for "goma". 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 "Golf" and "goma" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Golf" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "goma" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #31,792 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Golf" and "goma" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "goma vs grua". 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 #31,792 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