lençovslençóisConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#15,847
“lenço” frequency rank
#12,712
“lençóis” frequency rank
28559
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lenço lençóis
Definition pedaço de pano quadrado que serve para: forma plural de lençol

Where the eye mixes lenço and lençóis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
lenço
7 ch
lençóis

Visual trap between lenço and lençóis

A purely visual mix-up. lenço (/ˈlẽ.su/) and lençóis (/leĩˈsɔjs/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28559, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lenço is recorded at frequency rank #15,847, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlẽ.su/. lençóis is at rank #12,712, tagged as anoun, pronounced /leĩˈsɔjs/.

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 28559, this pair ranks #40,260 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lenço vs lençóis

Shared letters: elnç. Private to "lenço": o. Private to "lençóis": isó.

"lenço" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "lençóis" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lenço" and "lençóis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈlẽ.su/ versus /leĩˈsɔjs/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lenço" or "lençóis"?
"lençóis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,712 in our Portuguese list, against #15,847 for "lenço". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lenço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lençóis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #40,260 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lenço" and "lençóis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lenço vs lince". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #40,260 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