Which to use
“lama” and “limão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,317
- “lama” frequency rank
- #6,316
- “limão” frequency rank
- 11633
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lama | limão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mistura heterogênea de terra e água | fruto do limoeiro, de forma ovoide, cítrico de cor verde-amarela e de sabor ácido |
Where the eye mixes lama and limão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lama runs 4 letters (CVCV) against limão's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: lama vs limão
A purely visual mix-up. lama (/ˈlɐ.mɐ/) and limão (/li.ˈmɐ̃w̃/) 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 11633, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lama is recorded at frequency rank #5,317, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɐ.mɐ/. limão is at rank #6,316, tagged as anoun, pronounced /li.ˈmɐ̃w̃/.
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 11633, this pair ranks #61,174 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lama vs limão
Shared letters: lm. Private to "lama": a. Private to "limão": ioã.
"lama" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "limão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- lama ← laam · lamma · llama · lmaa
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lama" for "limão" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lama" vs "limão" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lama" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "limão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #61,174 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lama" and "limão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lama vs liana". 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 #61,174 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.