Which to use
“medida” is a noun and “merda” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,014
- “medida” frequency rank
- #436
- “merda” frequency rank
- 1450
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | medida | merda |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | determinada grandeza que serve de padrão para avaliar outra | utilizado antes de um ator entrar no palco: boa sorte; boa apresentação |
Where the eye mixes medida and merda
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses medida with merda
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: medida is /mɨ.ˈdi.dɐ/ while merda is /ˈmɛɾ.dɐ/. 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 (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1450, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
medida is recorded at frequency rank #1,014, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɨ.ˈdi.dɐ/. merda is at rank #436, tagged as anintj, pronounced /ˈmɛɾ.dɐ/.
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 1450, this pair ranks #74,124 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of medida vs merda
Shared letters: adem. Private to "medida": i. Private to "merda": r.
"medida" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "merda" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "medida" for "merda" ever safe?
Frequency check: "medida" vs "merda" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "medida" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "merda" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #74,124 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "medida" and "merda" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "merda vs mirra". 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 #74,124 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.