lâmpadavslombadaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,553
“lâmpada” frequency rank
#38,796
“lombada” frequency rank
49349
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lâmpada lombada
Definition vaso em que arde uma luz alimentada a óleo o dorso do livro

Where the eye mixes lâmpada and lombada

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

7 ch
lâmpada
7 ch
lombada

Why the eye confuses lâmpada with lombada

A purely visual mix-up. lâmpada (/ˈlɐ̃.pɐ.dɐ/) and lombada (/lõ.ˈba.dɐ/) 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 49349, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lâmpada is recorded at frequency rank #10,553, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɐ̃.pɐ.dɐ/. lombada is at rank #38,796, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lõ.ˈba.dɐ/.

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 49349, this pair ranks #15,680 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lâmpada vs lombada

Shared letters: adlm. Private to "lâmpada": pâ. Private to "lombada": bo.

"lâmpada" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "lombada" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lombada ← llombada · lmobada · lobmada · lomabda · lombaad · lombadda · lombbada · lombdaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lâmpada" for "lombada" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈlɐ̃.pɐ.dɐ/ versus /lõ.ˈba.dɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lâmpada" vs "lombada" - which ranks higher?
"lâmpada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,553 in our Portuguese list, against #38,796 for "lombada". 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 "lâmpada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lombada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #15,680 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lâmpada" and "lombada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lombada vs lombar". 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 #15,680 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