Which to use
“Paolo” and “piolho” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,404
- “Paolo” frequency rank
- #32,316
- “piolho” frequency rank
- 50720
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Paolo | piolho |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pablo, Paolo, Paulo | inseto parasita que suga o sangue de vertebrados e lhes transmite várias doenças |
Where the eye mixes Paolo and piolho
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Paolo runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against piolho's 6 (CVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Paolo with piolho
A purely visual mix-up. Paolo (/'pa.βlo/.) and piolho (/ˈpjo.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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50720, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Paolo is recorded at frequency rank #18,404, classified as anoun, pronounced /'pa.βlo/.. piolho is at rank #32,316, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpjo.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 50720, this pair ranks #14,242 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Paolo vs piolho
Shared letters: lop. Private to "Paolo": a. Private to "piolho": hi.
"Paolo" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "piolho" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Paolo" and "piolho" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "Paolo" or "piolho" show up more?
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 "Paolo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "piolho" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #14,242 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Paolo" and "piolho" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pilão vs piolho". 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 #14,242 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.