mechavsmesclaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#24,075
“mecha” frequency rank
#23,732
“mescla” frequency rank
47807
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mecha mescla
Definition porção de cabelos ou pelos coisa mesclada

Where the eye mixes mecha and mescla

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
mecha
6 ch
mescla

Look-alike desk: mecha vs mescla

A purely visual mix-up. mecha (/ˈmɛ.ʃɐ/) and mescla (/ˈmɛʃ.klɐ/) 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 47807, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mecha is recorded at frequency rank #24,075, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɛ.ʃɐ/. mescla is at rank #23,732, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɛʃ.klɐ/.

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 47807, this pair ranks #17,417 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mecha vs mescla

Shared letters: acem. Private to "mecha": h. Private to "mescla": ls.

"mecha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "mescla" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mechaemcha · mceha · mecah · meccha · mechha · mehca · mmecha
  • mesclaemscla · mecsla · mescal · mesccla · mesclla · meslca · messcla · mmescla

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mecha" for "mescla" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈmɛ.ʃɐ/ versus /ˈmɛʃ.klɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "mecha" vs "mescla" - which ranks higher?
"mescla" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,732 in our Portuguese list, against #24,075 for "mecha". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "mecha" and "mescla" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mecha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mescla" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #17,417 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mecha" and "mescla" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mecha vs mesh". 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 #17,417 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