Which to use
“leilão” and “lilás” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,655
- “leilão” frequency rank
- #26,800
- “lilás” frequency rank
- 34455
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leilão | lilás |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | venda em hasta pública a quem oferecer maior preço | planta da família das Oleáceas com flores arroxeadas |
Where the eye mixes leilão and lilás
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. leilão runs 6 letters (CVVCVV) against lilás's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses leilão with lilás
A purely visual mix-up. leilão (/lɐj.ˈlɐ̃w̃/) and lilás (/li.ˈlaʃ/) 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 34455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leilão is recorded at frequency rank #7,655, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɐj.ˈlɐ̃w̃/. lilás is at rank #26,800, tagged as anoun, pronounced /li.ˈlaʃ/.
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 34455, this pair ranks #32,799 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leilão vs lilás
Shared letters: il. Private to "leilão": eoã. Private to "lilás": sá.
"leilão" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV · "lilás" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "leilão" and "lilás" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "leilão" vs "lilás" - 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 "leilão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lilás" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #32,799 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leilão" and "lilás" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lilás vs lipa". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #32,799 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.