Which to use
“macio” is an adjective and “marido” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,891
- “macio” frequency rank
- #1,197
- “marido” frequency rank
- 16088
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | macio | marido |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que é suave aos sentidos. aveludado | o cônjuge masculino |
Where the eye mixes macio and marido
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses macio with marido
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: macio is /mɐ.ˈsi.u/ while marido is /mɐ.ˈɾi.du/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16088, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
macio is recorded at frequency rank #14,891, classified as anadj, pronounced /mɐ.ˈsi.u/. marido is at rank #1,197, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɐ.ˈɾi.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 16088, this pair ranks #55,536 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of macio vs marido
Shared letters: aimo. Private to "macio": c. Private to "marido": dr.
"macio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "marido" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "macio" for "marido" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "macio" or "marido" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "macio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "marido" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #55,536 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "macio" and "marido" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "macio vs matiz". 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 #55,536 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.