Which to use
“lícito” is an adjective and “lítio” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,231
- “lícito” frequency rank
- #26,804
- “lítio” frequency rank
- 67035
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lícito | lítio |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que está de acordo com a lei | elemento químico de símbolo Li, possui o número atômico 3 e massa atômica relativa 7; não é encontrado livre na natureza; é um elemento da classe dos alcalinos; na sua forma pura, é um metal macio de coloração branco prateado; é utilizado para produção de ligas metálicas condutoras de calor, em baterias elétricas, vidros e prismas especiais e, como medicamento, no tratamento de certos tipos de depressão |
Where the eye mixes lícito and lítio
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lícito runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against lítio's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between lícito and lítio
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lícito is /ˈli.si.tu/ while lítio is /ˈlitiu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67035, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lícito is recorded at frequency rank #40,231, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈli.si.tu/. lítio is at rank #26,804, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlitiu/.
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 67035, this pair ranks #4,763 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lícito vs lítio
Shared letters: ilotí. Private to "lícito": c. Private to "lítio": -.
"lícito" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "lítio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lícito" for "lítio" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "lícito" or "lítio" show up more?
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 "lícito" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lítio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #4,763 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lícito" and "lítio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "latido vs lítio". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #4,763 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.