maláriavsmalíciaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“malária” and “malícia” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,784
“malária” frequency rank
#23,722
“malícia” frequency rank
37506
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature malária malícia
Definition doença infecciosa endêmica em muitas regiões tropicais e subtropicais do mundo, causada por um parasita, protozoário do gênero Plasmodium (da família plasmodiidae), transmitida aos seres humanos por meio da picada do mosquito Anopheles infectado ou ainda através de transmissão congênita (da mãe para o feto), por transfusão sanguínea ou hemoderivados e por uso de agulhas e seringas contaminada má índole

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set malária and malícia apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
malária
7 ch
malícia

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. malária (/mɐ.ˈla.ɾjɐ/) and malícia (/mɐ.ˈli.sjɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37506, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

malária is recorded at frequency rank #13,784, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɐ.ˈla.ɾjɐ/. malícia is at rank #23,722, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɐ.ˈli.sjɐ/.

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 37506, this pair ranks #29,102 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of malária vs malícia

Shared letters: ailm. Private to "malária": . Private to "malícia": .

"malária" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "malícia" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Frequency comparison

malária#13,784
malícia#23,722

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "malária" and "malícia" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/mɐ.ˈla.ɾjɐ/ versus /mɐ.ˈli.sjɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "malária" or "malícia"?
"malária" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,784 in our Portuguese list, against #23,722 for "malícia". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering malária vs malícia

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “malária” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list