Which to use
“machão” and “moção” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,901
- “machão” frequency rank
- #13,980
- “moção” frequency rank
- 51881
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | machão | moção |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mulher de aspecto e de modos varonis | ato ou efeito de mover |
Where the eye mixes machão and moção
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. machão runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against moção's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: machão vs moção
A purely visual mix-up. machão (/mɐ.ˈʃɐ̃w̃/) and moção (/mu.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) 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 51881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
machão is recorded at frequency rank #37,901, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɐ.ˈʃɐ̃w̃/. moção is at rank #13,980, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mu.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.
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 51881, this pair ranks #13,224 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of machão vs moção
Shared letters: moã. Private to "machão": ach. Private to "moção": ç.
"machão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "moção" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "machão" for "moção" ever safe?
Which is more common, "machão" or "moção"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "machão" and "moção" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "machão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "moção" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #13,224 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "machão" and "moção" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "machão vs malho". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #13,224 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.