Which to use
“mean” and “medo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,388
- “mean” frequency rank
- #379
- “medo” frequency rank
- 18767
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mean | medo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | maldoso, mau, cruel | que pertence ou se refere à Média |
Where the eye mixes mean and medo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between mean and medo
A purely visual mix-up. mean (/ˈmiːn/) and medo (AFI: /'me.du/) 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 18767, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mean is recorded at frequency rank #18,388, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈmiːn/. medo is at rank #379, tagged as anadj, pronounced AFI: /'me.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 18767, this pair ranks #52,133 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mean vs medo
Shared letters: em. Private to "mean": an. Private to "medo": do.
"mean" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "medo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mean" and "medo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "mean" or "medo" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mean" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "medo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #52,133 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mean" and "medo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mean". 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 #52,133 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.