inteirovsíntimoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,244
“inteiro” frequency rank
#9,282
“íntimo” frequency rank
10526
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature inteiro íntimo
Definition completo muito interno

Where the eye mixes inteiro and íntimo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

7 ch
inteiro
6 ch
íntimo

Look-alike desk: inteiro vs íntimo

A purely visual mix-up. inteiro (/ĩ.ˈtɐj.ɾu/) and íntimo (/ˈĩ.ti.mu/) 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 10526, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

inteiro is recorded at frequency rank #1,244, classified as anadj, pronounced /ĩ.ˈtɐj.ɾu/. íntimo is at rank #9,282, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈĩ.ti.mu/.

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 10526, this pair ranks #62,545 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of inteiro vs íntimo

Shared letters: inot. Private to "inteiro": er. Private to "íntimo": .

"inteiro" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV  ·  "íntimo" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • inteiroinetiro · innteiro · inteior · inteirro · interio · intiero · intteiro · itneiro

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "inteiro" for "íntimo" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ĩ.ˈtɐj.ɾu/ versus /ˈĩ.ti.mu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "inteiro" or "íntimo"?
"inteiro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,244 in our Portuguese list, against #9,282 for "íntimo". 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 "inteiro" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "íntimo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #62,545 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "inteiro" and "íntimo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inativo vs íntimo". 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 #62,545 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