ladeiravslixeiraWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,061
“ladeira” frequency rank
#18,099
“lixeira” frequency rank
35160
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ladeira lixeira
Definition inclinação de terreno recipiente de madeira, plástico ou metal, de forma e tamanho variados, móvel ou fixo, onde se reúne o lixo, nas casas, logradouros e vias públicas

Where the eye mixes ladeira and lixeira

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. ladeira and lixeira follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
ladeira
7 ch
lixeira

Visual trap between ladeira and lixeira

A purely visual mix-up. ladeira (/lɐ.ˈdɐj.ɾɐ/) and lixeira (/li.ˈʃɐj.ɾɐ/) 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 35160, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ladeira is recorded at frequency rank #17,061, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɐ.ˈdɐj.ɾɐ/. lixeira is at rank #18,099, tagged as anoun, pronounced /li.ˈʃɐj.ɾɐ/.

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 35160, this pair ranks #31,928 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ladeira vs lixeira

Shared letters: aeilr. Private to "ladeira": d. Private to "lixeira": x.

"ladeira" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "lixeira" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ladeira ← aldeira · laddeira · ladeiar · ladeirra · laderia · ladiera · laedira · ldaeira
  • lixeira ← ilxeira · liexira · lixeiar · lixeirra · lixeria · lixiera · lixxeira · llixeira

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ladeira" and "lixeira" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/lɐ.ˈdɐj.ɾɐ/ versus /li.ˈʃɐj.ɾɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "ladeira" or "lixeira" show up more?
"ladeira" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,061 in our Portuguese list, against #18,099 for "lixeira". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ladeira" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lixeira" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #31,928 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ladeira" and "lixeira" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leiteira vs lixeira". 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 #31,928 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