infeçãovsinfraçãoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#40,622
“infeção” frequency rank
#18,620
“infração” frequency rank
59242
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature infeção infração
Definition invasão de micro-organismos patogénicos ato de ignorar e desprezar as leis e normas traçadas pelo estado para o correto e ordenado comportamento social da população

Letter map: infeção vs infração

Shared letters muted; letters that set infeção and infração apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. infeção runs 7 letters (VCCVCVV) against infração's 8 (VCCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
infeção
8 ch
infração

Spelling & dictionary notes on infeção vs infração

infeção and infração are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59242, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

infeção is recorded at frequency rank #40,622, classified as anoun. infração is at rank #18,620, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ĩ.fɾa.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.

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 59242, this pair ranks #8,289 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of infeção vs infração

Shared letters: finoãç. Private to "infeção": e. Private to "infração": ar.

"infeção" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV  ·  "infração" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "infeção" and "infração" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "infeção" or "infração" show up more?
"infração" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,620 in our Portuguese list, against #40,622 for "infeção". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "infeção" and "infração". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "infeção" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "infração" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #8,289 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "infeção" and "infração" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "infeção vs inflexão". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #8,289 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