imensovsintensoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,624
“imenso” frequency rank
#4,735
“intenso” frequency rank
8359
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature imenso intenso
Definition vasto, enorme, muito grande que existe ou ocorre em alto grau

Where the eye mixes imenso and intenso

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. imenso runs 6 letters (VCVCCV) against intenso's 7 (VCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
imenso
7 ch
intenso

Look-alike desk: imenso vs intenso

A purely visual mix-up. imenso (/i.ˈmẽ.su/) and intenso (/ĩ.ˈtẽ.su/) 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 8359, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

imenso is recorded at frequency rank #3,624, classified as anadj, pronounced /i.ˈmẽ.su/. intenso is at rank #4,735, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ĩ.ˈtẽ.su/.

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 8359, this pair ranks #65,448 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of imenso vs intenso

Shared letters: einos. Private to "imenso": m. Private to "intenso": t.

"imenso" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "intenso" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • imenso ← iemnso · imennso · imenos · imensso · imesno · immenso · imneso · mienso
  • intenso ← inetnso · inntenso · intennso · intenos · intensso · intesno · intneso · inttenso

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "imenso" and "intenso" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/i.ˈmẽ.su/ versus /ĩ.ˈtẽ.su/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "imenso" or "intenso"?
"imenso" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,624 in our Portuguese list, against #4,735 for "intenso". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "imenso" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "intenso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #65,448 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "imenso" and "intenso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imenso vs imerso". 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 #65,448 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