perfect vs perfeito, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#12,745
“perfect” frequency rank: #1,127
“perfeito” frequency rank: 13872
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	perfect	perfeito
Definition	perfeito	que se conforma completamente com a descrição ou definição de um tipo ideal

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set perfect and perfeito apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

perfect

8 ch

perfeito

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. perfect (/ˈpɜː.fɪkt/; /ˈpɜː.fɛkt/) and perfeito (/pɨɾ.ˈfɐj.tu/) 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 13872, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

perfect is recorded at frequency rank #12,745, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈpɜː.fɪkt/; /ˈpɜː.fɛkt/. perfeito is at rank #1,127, tagged as anadj, pronounced /pɨɾ.ˈfɐj.tu/.

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 13872, this pair ranks #58,343 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of perfect vs perfeito

Shared letters: efprt. Private to "perfect": c. Private to "perfeito": io.

"perfect" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "perfeito" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

perfect ← eprfect · pefrect · perefct · perfcet · perfecct · perfectt · perfetc · perffect
perfeito ← eprfeito · pefreito · perefito · perfeiot · perfeitto · perfetio · perffeito · perfieto

Frequency comparison

perfect#12,745

perfeito#1,127

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "perfect" and "perfeito" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ˈpɜː.fɪkt/; /ˈpɜː.fɛkt/ versus /pɨɾ.ˈfɐj.tu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "perfect" or "perfeito"?

"perfeito" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,127 in our Portuguese list, against #12,745 for "perfect". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering perfect vs perfeito

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “perfect” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable