Which to use
“pavão” and “pião” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,519
- “pavão” frequency rank
- #35,727
- “pião” frequency rank
- 55246
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pavão | pião |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pendão, flor masculina do milho | brinquedo que consiste em puxar uma corda enrolada a um objeto afunilado, geralmente de madeira ou plástico e com uma ponta de ferro, colocando-o em rotação no solo, mantendo-se erguido |
Letter map: pavão vs pião
Shared letters muted; letters that set pavão and pião apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. pavão runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against pião's 4 (CVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Pair insight - pavão / pião
pavão and pião are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55246, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pavão is recorded at frequency rank #19,519, classified as anoun, pronounced /pa.'boŋ/. pião is at rank #35,727, tagged as anoun.
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 55246, this pair ranks #10,712 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pavão vs pião
Shared letters: opã. Private to "pavão": av. Private to "pião": i.
"pavão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "pião" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pavão" and "pião" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "pavão" vs "pião" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "pavão" and "pião". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "pavão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pião" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #10,712 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pavão" and "pião" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pião vs pix". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #10,712 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.