Which to use
“papão” and “pasmo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,749
- “papão” frequency rank
- #42,145
- “pasmo” frequency rank
- 66894
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | papão | pasmo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que papa muito | espantado |
Where the eye mixes papão and pasmo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. papão (CVCVV) and pasmo (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses papão with pasmo
A purely visual mix-up. papão (/pɐ.ˈpɐ̃w̃/) and pasmo (/ˈpaʒ.mu/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66894, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
papão is recorded at frequency rank #24,749, classified as anadj, pronounced /pɐ.ˈpɐ̃w̃/. pasmo is at rank #42,145, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈpaʒ.mu/.
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 66894, this pair ranks #4,819 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of papão vs pasmo
Shared letters: aop. Private to "papão": ã. Private to "pasmo": ms.
"papão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "pasmo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pasmo ← apsmo · pamso · pasmmo · pasom · passmo · ppasmo · psamo
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "papão" and "pasmo" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "papão" or "pasmo"?
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 "papão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pasmo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #4,819 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "papão" and "pasmo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pasmo vs pomo". 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 #4,819 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.