Which to use
“pequi” and “pique” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,056
- “pequi” frequency rank
- #17,105
- “pique” frequency rank
- 65161
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pequi | pique |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fruto da árvore Caryocar brasiliense, típica do cerrado brasileiro, casca verde e grossa, com polpa interna de coloração amarelo-escura e comestível (servida cozida, é roída) e de onde se extrai óleo, parte interna crivada de pequenos espinhos bastante agudos e com uma amêndoa também comestível em seu âmago, fazendo parte da culinária do norte mineiro, sertão baiano e dos estados da região Centro-Oeste onde é cozido puro, com pirão, ou em galinhada, no arroz, etc. | lança de aproximadamente 3 metros, com uma ponta de metal |
Where the eye mixes pequi and pique
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pequi and pique follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses pequi with pique
A purely visual mix-up. pequi (/peˈki/, /ˌpeˈki/, /piˈki/) and pique (/ˈpi.kɨ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65161, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pequi is recorded at frequency rank #48,056, classified as anoun, pronounced /peˈki/, /ˌpeˈki/, /piˈki/. pique is at rank #17,105, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpi.kɨ/.
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 65161, this pair ranks #5,501 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pequi vs pique
Shared letters: eipqu. Private to "pequi": -. Private to "pique": -.
"pequi" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "pique" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pequi" and "pique" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "pequi" vs "pique" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "pequi" and "pique" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pequi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pique" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #5,501 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pequi" and "pique" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pingue vs pique". 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 #5,501 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.