ilusãovsinfusãoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#5,857
“ilusão” frequency rank
#32,645
“infusão” frequency rank
38502
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ilusão infusão
Definition qualquer coisa que pareça ser algo que não é operação de deixar de molho em água quente uma ou mais substâncias por tempo variável para extrair-lhes os princípios solúveis

Where the eye mixes ilusão and infusão

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
ilusão
7 ch
infusão

Visual trap between ilusão and infusão

A purely visual mix-up. ilusão (/i.luˈzɐ̃w̃/) and infusão (/ĩ.fu.ˈzɐ̃w̃/) 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 38502, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ilusão is recorded at frequency rank #5,857, classified as anoun, pronounced /i.luˈzɐ̃w̃/. infusão is at rank #32,645, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ĩ.fu.ˈzɐ̃w̃/.

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 38502, this pair ranks #27,947 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ilusão vs infusão

Shared letters: iosuã. Private to "ilusão": l. Private to "infusão": fn.

"ilusão" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVV  ·  "infusão" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ilusão" and "infusão" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/i.luˈzɐ̃w̃/ versus /ĩ.fu.ˈzɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ilusão" or "infusão"?
"ilusão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,857 in our Portuguese list, against #32,645 for "infusão". 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 "ilusão" and "infusão" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ilusão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "infusão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #27,947 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ilusão" and "infusão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "infeção vs infusão". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #27,947 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