óciovsoitoConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#34,525
“ócio” frequency rank
#1,099
“oito” frequency rank
35624
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ócio oito
Definition não ter nada o que fazer número equivalente a sete mais um; cardinalidade de um conjunto que contenha oito elementos distintos, representado pelo símbolo 8 (algarismos arábicos) ou VIII (algarismos romanos)

Where the eye mixes ócio and oito

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ócio (VCVV) and oito (VVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
ócio
4 ch
oito

Visual trap between ócio and oito

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ócio is /ˈɔ.sju/ while oito is /ˈoj.tu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35624, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ócio is recorded at frequency rank #34,525, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɔ.sju/. oito is at rank #1,099, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈoj.tu/.

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 35624, this pair ranks #31,405 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ócio vs oito

Shared letters: io. Private to "ócio": có. Private to "oito": t.

"ócio" · 4 letters · shape VCVV  ·  "oito" · 4 letters · shape VVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • oito ← ioto · oiot · oitto · otio

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ócio" and "oito" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ócio" is a noun and "oito" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ócio" or "oito"?
"oito" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,099 in our Portuguese list, against #34,525 for "ócio". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ócio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "oito" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #31,405 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ócio" and "oito" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ócio vs oni". 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 #31,405 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