Which to use
“parecido” and “preciso” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,574
- “parecido” frequency rank
- #252
- “preciso” frequency rank
- 4826
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | parecido | preciso |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que se parece; semelhante | necessário, importante: |
Where the eye mixes parecido and preciso
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. parecido runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCV) against preciso's 7 (CCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: parecido vs preciso
A purely visual mix-up. parecido (/pɐ.ɾɨ.ˈsi.du/) and preciso (/pɾɨ.ˈsi.zu/) 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 4826, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
parecido is recorded at frequency rank #4,574, classified as anadj, pronounced /pɐ.ɾɨ.ˈsi.du/. preciso is at rank #252, tagged as anadj, pronounced /pɾɨ.ˈsi.zu/.
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 4826, this pair ranks #69,948 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of parecido vs preciso
Shared letters: ceiopr. Private to "parecido": ad. Private to "preciso": s.
"parecido" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV · "preciso" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "parecido" for "preciso" ever safe?
Which is more common, "parecido" or "preciso"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "parecido" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "preciso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #69,948 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "parecido" and "preciso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "preciso vs prévio". 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 #69,948 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.