machadovsmalvadoConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#2,891
“machado” frequency rank
#23,040
“malvado” frequency rank
25931
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature machado malvado
Definition ferramenta cortante composta de um cabo (usualmente de madeira) e uma cabeça (usualmente de ferro) com gumes de um ou dois lados que tem índole perversa ou que é praticado com desrespeito, violência ou crueldade

Letter map: machado vs malvado

Shared letters muted; letters that set machado and malvado apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. machado and malvado follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
machado
7 ch
malvado

Part-of-speech tell for machado / malvado

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: machado is anoun and malvadoanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25931, 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/. malvado is at rank #23,040, 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 25931, this pair ranks #43,293 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of machado vs malvado

Shared letters: admo. Private to "machado": ch. Private to "malvado": lv.

"machado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "malvado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • machado ← amchado · macahdo · macchado · machaddo · machaod · machdao · machhado · mahcado
  • malvado ← amlvado · malavdo · mallvado · malvaddo · malvaod · malvdao · malvvado · mavlado

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "machado" and "malvado" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "machado" is a noun and "malvado" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "machado" vs "malvado" - which ranks higher?
"machado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,891 in our Portuguese list, against #23,040 for "malvado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "machado" and "malvado".

  • Full dictionary entry for "machado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "malvado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #43,293 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "machado" and "malvado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "malvado vs melado". 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 #43,293 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