Which to use
“laca” and “lixa” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,502
- “laca” frequency rank
- #26,452
- “lixa” frequency rank
- 74954
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laca | lixa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | resina ou goma resinosa obtida de certas árvores no Oriente | diversas espécies de esqualos recebem este nome pela sua pele áspera e rugosa |
Where the eye mixes laca and lixa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. laca and lixa follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses laca with lixa
A purely visual mix-up. laca (/ˈla.kɐ/) and lixa (/ˈli.ʃɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74954, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laca is recorded at frequency rank #48,502, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈla.kɐ/. lixa is at rank #26,452, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈli.ʃɐ/.
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 74954, this pair ranks #2,402 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of laca vs lixa
Shared letters: al. Private to "laca": c. Private to "lixa": ix.
"laca" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lixa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "laca" for "lixa" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "laca" or "lixa" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "laca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lixa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,402 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laca" and "lixa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laca vs loch". 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 #2,402 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.