Which to use
“lau” and “loud” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,230
- “lau” frequency rank
- #19,206
- “loud” frequency rank
- 40436
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lau | loud |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | morno, tépido: | alto, elevado, intenso (em se falando de som) |
Where the eye mixes lau and loud
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lau runs 3 letters (CVV) against loud's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: lau vs loud
A purely visual mix-up. lau (/ˈlaʊ̯/) and loud (/laʊd/) 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 40436, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lau is recorded at frequency rank #21,230, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈlaʊ̯/. loud is at rank #19,206, tagged as anadj, pronounced /laʊd/.
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 40436, this pair ranks #25,688 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lau vs loud
Shared letters: lu. Private to "lau": a. Private to "loud": do.
"lau" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "loud" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- loud ← lloud · lodu · loudd · luod · olud
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lau" for "loud" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "lau" or "loud" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loud" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,688 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lau" and "loud" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laca vs lau". 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 #25,688 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.