maçaricovsmaciçoConfusable pair

Quick tell: maçarico is a noun, maciço is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#36,542
“maçarico” frequency rank
#19,489
“maciço” frequency rank
56031
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maçarico maciço
Definition canudo retorcido, por onde sai a chama, que há de soldar ou derreter um metal compacto; sem vazios internos

Letter map: maçarico vs maciço

Shared letters muted; letters that set maçarico and maciço apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

8 ch
maçarico
6 ch
maciço

Role in the sentence - maçarico and maciço

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: maçarico is anoun and maciçoanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maçarico is recorded at frequency rank #36,542, classified as anoun. maciço is at rank #19,489, tagged as anadj.

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 56031, this pair ranks #10,223 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of maçarico vs maciço

Shared letters: acimoç. Private to "maçarico": r. Private to "maciço": -.

"maçarico" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "maciço" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maçarico" and "maciço" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "maçarico" is a noun and "maciço" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "maçarico" vs "maciço" - which ranks higher?
"maciço" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,489 in our Portuguese list, against #36,542 for "maçarico". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "maçarico" and "maciço".

  • Full dictionary entry for "maçarico" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "maciço" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #10,223 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "maçarico" and "maciço" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "machão vs maciço". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #10,223 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