infernovsinterinoWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#2,015
“inferno” frequency rank
#9,065
“interino” frequency rank
11080
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature inferno interino
Definition qualquer região inferior ou subterrânea; ínfero provisório; diz-se de quem exerce funções só durante o tempo de impedimento do funcionário efetivo

Where the eye mixes inferno and interino

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. inferno runs 7 letters (VCCVCCV) against interino's 8 (VCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
inferno
8 ch
interino

Visual trap between inferno and interino

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: inferno is /ĩ.ˈfɛɾ.nu/ while interino is /ĩ.tɨ.ˈɾi.nu/. 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 11080, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

inferno is recorded at frequency rank #2,015, classified as anoun, pronounced /ĩ.ˈfɛɾ.nu/. interino is at rank #9,065, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ĩ.tɨ.ˈɾi.nu/.

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 11080, this pair ranks #61,847 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of inferno vs interino

Shared letters: einor. Private to "inferno": f. Private to "interino": t.

"inferno" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "interino" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • inferno ← ifnerno · inefrno · infenro · infernno · inferon · inferrno · infferno · infreno
  • interino ← inetrino · innterino · inteirno · interinno · interion · internio · interrino · intreino

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "inferno" for "interino" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "inferno" is a noun and "interino" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "inferno" or "interino"?
"inferno" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,015 in our Portuguese list, against #9,065 for "interino". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "inferno" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "interino" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #61,847 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "inferno" and "interino" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "infeção vs inferno". 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 #61,847 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