Which to use
“grifo” and “gris” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,179
- “grifo” frequency rank
- #42,486
- “gris” frequency rank
- 81665
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grifo | gris |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | frisado, encrespado | cinza, cinzento |
Where the eye mixes grifo and gris
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. grifo runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against gris's 4 (CCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between grifo and gris
A purely visual mix-up. grifo (/'gɾɪfu/) and gris (/gris/) 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 81665, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grifo is recorded at frequency rank #39,179, classified as anadj, pronounced /'gɾɪfu/. gris is at rank #42,486, tagged as anadj, pronounced /gris/.
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 81665, this pair ranks #1,135 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of grifo vs gris
Shared letters: gir. Private to "grifo": fo. Private to "gris": s.
"grifo" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "gris" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "grifo" for "gris" ever safe?
Which is more common, "grifo" or "gris"?
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 "grifo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gris" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,135 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grifo" and "gris" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grip vs gris". 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 #1,135 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.