lobovsloçãoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,408
“lobo” frequency rank
#32,245
“loção” frequency rank
36653
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lobo loção
Definition parte saliente de um órgão; porção de um órgão líquido perfumado e levemente alcoolizado para o tratamento da pele e dos cabelos

Where the eye mixes lobo and loção

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. lobo runs 4 letters (CVCV) against loção's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
lobo
5 ch
loção

Why the eye confuses lobo with loção

A purely visual mix-up. lobo (/ˈlɔ.bʊ/) and loção (/lu.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) 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 36653, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lobo is recorded at frequency rank #4,408, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɔ.bʊ/. loção is at rank #32,245, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lu.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.

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 36653, this pair ranks #30,100 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lobo vs loção

Shared letters: lo. Private to "lobo": b. Private to "loção": ãç.

"lobo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "loção" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lobo ← lboo · llobo · lobbo · loob · olbo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lobo" and "loção" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈlɔ.bʊ/ versus /lu.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lobo" or "loção"?
"lobo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,408 in our Portuguese list, against #32,245 for "loção". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "lobo" and "loção" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lobo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "loção" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #30,100 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lobo" and "loção" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loção vs loch". 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 #30,100 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