Which to use
“lícito” and “lúcido” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,231
- “lícito” frequency rank
- #28,267
- “lúcido” frequency rank
- 68498
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lícito | lúcido |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que está de acordo com a lei | que luz; resplandecente; fulgente |
Where the eye mixes lícito and lúcido
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lícito and lúcido follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses lícito with lúcido
A purely visual mix-up. lícito (/ˈli.si.tu/) and lúcido (/ˈlu.si.du/) 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 68498, 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/. lúcido is at rank #28,267, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈlu.si.du/.
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 68498, this pair ranks #4,257 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lícito vs lúcido
Shared letters: cilo. Private to "lícito": tí. Private to "lúcido": dú.
"lícito" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "lúcido" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lícito" for "lúcido" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lícito" vs "lúcido" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "lícito" and "lúcido" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lícito" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lúcido" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #4,257 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lícito" and "lúcido" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lúcido vs ludo". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #4,257 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.