moldevsmoleTell them apart

Quick tell: molde is a noun, mole is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“molde” is a noun and “mole” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,390
“molde” frequency rank
#7,187
“mole” frequency rank
25577
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature molde mole
Definition modelo escavado, próprio para reproduzir uma escultura através do enchimento com metal ou vidro fundido, gesso ou cimento; forma não duro

Where the eye mixes molde and mole

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

5 ch
molde
4 ch
mole

Visual trap between molde and mole

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: molde is /ˈmɔɫ.dɨ/ while mole is /ˈmɔ.lɨ/. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25577, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

molde is recorded at frequency rank #18,390, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɔɫ.dɨ/. mole is at rank #7,187, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈmɔ.lɨ/.

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 25577, this pair ranks #43,722 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of molde vs mole

Shared letters: elmo. Private to "molde": d. Private to "mole": -.

"molde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "mole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • moldemlode · mmolde · moldde · moled · mollde · omlde
  • molemloe · mmole · moel · molle · omle

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "molde" for "mole" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "molde" is a noun and "mole" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "molde" vs "mole" - which ranks higher?
"mole" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,187 in our Portuguese list, against #18,390 for "molde". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "molde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mole" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #43,722 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "molde" and "mole" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "moído vs molde". 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 #43,722 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