párocovspoçoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#23,470
“pároco” frequency rank
#5,129
“poço” frequency rank
28599
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pároco poço
Definition encarregado de uma paróquia buraco fundo, geralmente circular, cavado no chão, com o objetivo de encontrar água

Where the eye mixes pároco and poço

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pároco runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against poço's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
pároco
4 ch
poço

Look-alike desk: pároco vs poço

A purely visual mix-up. pároco (/ˈpa.ɾu.ku/) and poço (/ˈpo.su/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28599, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pároco is recorded at frequency rank #23,470, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpa.ɾu.ku/. poço is at rank #5,129, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpo.su/.

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 28599, this pair ranks #40,206 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pároco vs poço

Shared letters: op. Private to "pároco": crá. Private to "poço": ç.

"pároco" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "poço" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pároco" for "poço" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈpa.ɾu.ku/ versus /ˈpo.su/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pároco" vs "poço" - which ranks higher?
"poço" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,129 in our Portuguese list, against #23,470 for "pároco". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pároco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "poço" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #40,206 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pároco" and "poço" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "paçoca vs pároco". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #40,206 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