loucovslousaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: louco is a adjective, lousa is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“louco” is an adjective and “lousa” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,649
“louco” frequency rank
#32,242
“lousa” frequency rank
33891
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature louco lousa
Definition que perdeu a razão, maluco, demente, vesano, amente quadro-negro

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set louco and lousa apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
louco
5 ch
lousa

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

louco and lousa form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33891, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

louco is recorded at frequency rank #1,649, classified as anadj. lousa is at rank #32,242, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlow.zɐ/.

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 33891, this pair ranks #33,506 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

louco#1,649
lousa#32,242

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "louco" and "lousa" be used interchangeably?
No, "louco" and "lousa" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering louco vs lousa

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “louco”; for a noun, it's “lousa”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “louco” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list