Which to use
“like” is an adverb and “lince” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,734
- “like” frequency rank
- #40,653
- “lince” frequency rank
- 43387
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | like | lince |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | como, feito | designação comum a três espécies de mamíferos do gênero Felis, da família dos felídeos, com cauda curta ou muito curta e tufos de pelos nas orelhas |
Where the eye mixes like and lince
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses like with lince
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: like is /laɪk/ while lince is /ˈlĩ.sɨ/. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43387, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
like is recorded at frequency rank #2,734, classified as anadv, pronounced /laɪk/. lince is at rank #40,653, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlĩ.sɨ/.
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 43387, this pair ranks #22,254 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of like vs lince
Shared letters: eil. Private to "like": k. Private to "lince": cn.
"like" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lince" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "like" for "lince" ever safe?
Which is more common, "like" or "lince"?
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 "like" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lince" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #22,254 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "like" and "lince" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lime vs lince". 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 #22,254 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.