limitadovslimitedWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,019
“limitado” frequency rank
#17,065
“limited” frequency rank
22084
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature limitado limited
Definition que não deve ir além de certo prazo limitado

Where the eye mixes limitado and limited

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. limitado runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCV) against limited's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
limitado
7 ch
limited

Why the eye confuses limitado with limited

A purely visual mix-up. limitado (/li.mi.ˈta.du/) and limited (/ˈlɪmɪtɪd/) 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 22084, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

limitado is recorded at frequency rank #5,019, classified as anadj, pronounced /li.mi.ˈta.du/. limited is at rank #17,065, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈlɪmɪtɪd/.

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 22084, this pair ranks #48,034 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of limitado vs limited

Shared letters: dilmt. Private to "limitado": ao. Private to "limited": e.

"limitado" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "limited" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • limitado ← ilmitado · liimtado · limiatdo · limitaddo · limitaod · limitdao · limittado · limmitado
  • limited ← ilmited · liimted · limietd · limitde · limitedd · limitted · limmited · limtied

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "limitado" for "limited" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/li.mi.ˈta.du/ versus /ˈlɪmɪtɪd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "limitado" or "limited"?
"limitado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,019 in our Portuguese list, against #17,065 for "limited". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "limitado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "limited" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #48,034 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "limitado" and "limited" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "limitar vs limited". 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 #48,034 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