Which to use
“machado” is a noun and “magoado” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,891
- “machado” frequency rank
- #16,810
- “magoado” frequency rank
- 19701
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | machado | magoado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ferramenta cortante composta de um cabo (usualmente de madeira) e uma cabeça (usualmente de ferro) com gumes de um ou dois lados | ofendido |
Where the eye mixes machado and magoado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. machado (CVCCVCV) and magoado (CVCVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses machado with magoado
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: machado is /mɐ.ˈʃa.du/ while magoado is /mɐ.ˈɡwa.du/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19701, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
machado is recorded at frequency rank #2,891, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɐ.ˈʃa.du/. magoado is at rank #16,810, tagged as anadj, pronounced /mɐ.ˈɡwa.du/.
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 19701, this pair ranks #50,982 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of machado vs magoado
Shared letters: admo. Private to "machado": ch. Private to "magoado": g.
"machado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "magoado" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "machado" for "magoado" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "machado" or "magoado" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "machado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "magoado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #50,982 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "machado" and "magoado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "magoado vs malhado". 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 #50,982 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.