iluminaçãovsiluminadaConfusable pair

Quick tell: iluminação is a noun, iluminada is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“iluminação” is a noun and “iluminada” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,856
“iluminação” frequency rank
#19,179
“iluminada” frequency rank
25035
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature iluminação iluminada
Definition ato ou efeito de iluminar feminino de iluminado

Where the eye mixes iluminação and iluminada

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. iluminação runs 10 letters (VCVCVCVCVV) against iluminada's 9 (VCVCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
iluminação
9 ch
iluminada

Look-alike desk: iluminação vs iluminada

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: iluminação is /i.lu.mi.nɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ while iluminada is /i.lu.mi.ˈna.da/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25035, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

iluminação is recorded at frequency rank #5,856, classified as anoun, pronounced /i.lu.mi.nɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. iluminada is at rank #19,179, tagged as anadj, pronounced /i.lu.mi.ˈna.da/.

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 25035, this pair ranks #44,383 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of iluminação vs iluminada

Shared letters: ailmnu. Private to "iluminação": oãç. Private to "iluminada": d.

"iluminação" · 10 letters · shape VCVCVCVCVV  ·  "iluminada" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • iluminada ← illuminada · ilmuinada · iluimnada · ilumianda · iluminaad · iluminadda · ilumindaa · iluminnada

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "iluminação" for "iluminada" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "iluminação" is a noun and "iluminada" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "iluminação" or "iluminada" show up more?
"iluminação" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,856 in our Portuguese list, against #19,179 for "iluminada". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "iluminação" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "iluminada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #44,383 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "iluminação" and "iluminada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "iluminada vs iluminadas". 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 #44,383 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