iravsIranWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,314
“ira” frequency rank
#28,248
“Iran” frequency rank
33562
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ira Iran
Definition cólera Irão/Irã

Where the eye mixes ira and Iran

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. ira runs 3 letters (VCV) against Iran's 4 (VCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
ira
4 ch
Iran

Visual trap between ira and Iran

A purely visual mix-up. ira (/ˈi.ɾɐ/) and Iran (/i.ˈʀaːn/) 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 extra letter(s) - “ira” sits inside “Iran”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33562, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ira is recorded at frequency rank #5,314, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈi.ɾɐ/. Iran is at rank #28,248, tagged as anoun, pronounced /i.ˈʀaːn/.

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 33562, this pair ranks #33,919 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ira vs Iran

Shared letters: air. Private to "ira": -. Private to "Iran": n.

"ira" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "Iran" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Iran ← iarn · irann · irna · irran · rian

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ira" and "Iran" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈi.ɾɐ/ versus /i.ˈʀaːn/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ira" vs "Iran" - which ranks higher?
"ira" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,314 in our Portuguese list, against #28,248 for "Iran". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "ira" and "Iran" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ira" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Iran" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #33,919 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ira" and "Iran" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ina vs Iran". 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 #33,919 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