ideavsiraConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#24,034
“idea” frequency rank
#5,314
“ira” frequency rank
29348
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature idea ira
Definition ideia cólera

Where the eye mixes idea and ira

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
idea
3 ch
ira

Look-alike desk: idea vs ira

A purely visual mix-up. idea (/i.ˈðe.a/) and ira (/ˈi.ɾɐ/) 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 29348, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

idea is recorded at frequency rank #24,034, classified as anoun, pronounced /i.ˈðe.a/. ira is at rank #5,314, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈi.ɾɐ/.

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 29348, this pair ranks #39,317 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of idea vs ira

Shared letters: ai. Private to "idea": de. Private to "ira": r.

"idea" · 4 letters · shape VCVV  ·  "ira" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ideadiea · idae · iddea · ieda

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "idea" and "ira" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/i.ˈðe.a/ versus /ˈi.ɾɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "idea" or "ira"?
"ira" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,314 in our Portuguese list, against #24,034 for "idea". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "idea" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ira" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #39,317 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "idea" and "ira" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "idea vs ina". 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 #39,317 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