Which to use
“pelúcia” and “polícia” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,138
- “pelúcia” frequency rank
- #357
- “polícia” frequency rank
- 18495
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pelúcia | polícia |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | tecido aveludado, feito de lã, seda ou material sintético, simulando pelos, felpudo de um dos lados | corporação cujo objetivo é manter a ordem pública e garantir o cumprimento da lei |
Where the eye mixes pelúcia and polícia
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. pelúcia and polícia follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: pelúcia vs polícia
A purely visual mix-up. pelúcia (/pe.ˈlu.sjə/) and polícia (/pu.ˈli.sjɐ/) 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 18495, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pelúcia is recorded at frequency rank #18,138, classified as anoun, pronounced /pe.ˈlu.sjə/. polícia is at rank #357, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pu.ˈli.sjɐ/.
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 18495, this pair ranks #52,478 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pelúcia vs polícia
Shared letters: acilp. Private to "pelúcia": eú. Private to "polícia": oí.
"pelúcia" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "polícia" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pelúcia" and "polícia" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "pelúcia" or "polícia" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pelúcia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "polícia" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #52,478 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pelúcia" and "polícia" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pelúcia vs penúria". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #52,478 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.