Which to use
“macacão” and “machão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,720
- “macacão” frequency rank
- #37,901
- “machão” frequency rank
- 61621
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | macacão | machão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | macaco grande | mulher de aspecto e de modos varonis |
Where the eye mixes macacão and machão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. macacão runs 7 letters (CVCVCVV) against machão's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between macacão and machão
A purely visual mix-up. macacão (/mɐ.kɐ.ˈkɐ̃w̃/) and machão (/mɐ.ˈʃɐ̃w̃/) 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 61621, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
macacão is recorded at frequency rank #23,720, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɐ.kɐ.ˈkɐ̃w̃/. machão is at rank #37,901, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɐ.ˈʃɐ̃w̃/.
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 61621, this pair ranks #7,045 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of macacão vs machão
Shared letters: acmoã. Private to "macacão": -. Private to "machão": h.
"macacão" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "machão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "macacão" for "machão" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "macacão" or "machão" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "macacão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "machão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #7,045 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "macacão" and "machão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "machão vs malho". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #7,045 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.