molhevsmolhoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#32,269
“molhe” frequency rank
#5,444
“molho” frequency rank
37713
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature molhe molho
Definition cais onde se pode atracar uma embarcação feixe pequeno

Where the eye mixes molhe and molho

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. molhe and molho follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
molhe
5 ch
molho

Look-alike desk: molhe vs molho

A purely visual mix-up. molhe (/ˈmɔ.ʎɨ/) and molho (/ˈmɔ.ʎu/) 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 a single letter - e in “molhe” becomes o in “molho”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37713, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

molhe is recorded at frequency rank #32,269, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɔ.ʎɨ/. molho is at rank #5,444, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɔ.ʎu/.

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 37713, this pair ranks #28,854 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of molhe vs molho

Shared letters: hlmo. Private to "molhe": e. Private to "molho": -.

"molhe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "molho" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • molhe ← mlohe · mmolhe · mohle · moleh · molhhe · mollhe · omlhe
  • molho ← mloho · mmolho · mohlo · molhho · mollho · moloh · omlho

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "molhe" and "molho" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈmɔ.ʎɨ/ versus /ˈmɔ.ʎu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "molhe" vs "molho" - which ranks higher?
"molho" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,444 in our Portuguese list, against #32,269 for "molhe". 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 "molhe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "molho" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #28,854 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "molhe" and "molho" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "malho vs molhe". 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 #28,854 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