liravslírioConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#13,968
“lira” frequency rank
#24,381
“lírio” frequency rank
38349
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lira lírio
Definition instrumento musical de cordas dedilhadas nome vulgar de algumas plantas bolbosas ou rizomatosas cultivadas com fins ornamentais

Where the eye mixes lira and lírio

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lira runs 4 letters (CVCV) against lírio's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
lira
5 ch
lírio

Look-alike desk: lira vs lírio

A purely visual mix-up. lira (/ˈli.ɾɐ/) and lírio (/ˈłirju/) 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 38349, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lira is recorded at frequency rank #13,968, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈli.ɾɐ/. lírio is at rank #24,381, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈłirju/.

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 38349, this pair ranks #28,124 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lira vs lírio

Shared letters: ilr. Private to "lira": a. Private to "lírio": oí.

"lira" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lírio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lira ← ilra · liar · lirra · llira · lria

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lira" for "lírio" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈli.ɾɐ/ versus /ˈłirju/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "lira" or "lírio" show up more?
"lira" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,968 in our Portuguese list, against #24,381 for "lírio". 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 "lira" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lírio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #28,124 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lira" and "lírio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lírio vs lirismo". 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 #28,124 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