Which to use
“perícia” and “polícia” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,125
- “perícia” frequency rank
- #357
- “polícia” frequency rank
- 12482
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | perícia | polícia |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | habilidade, arte, engenho, execução correta por meio de conhecimento | corporação cujo objetivo é manter a ordem pública e garantir o cumprimento da lei |
Where the eye mixes perícia and polícia
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. perícia and polícia follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses perícia with polícia
A purely visual mix-up. perícia (/pɨ.ˈɾi.sjɐ/) 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 12482, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
perícia is recorded at frequency rank #12,125, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɨ.ˈɾi.sjɐ/. 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 12482, this pair ranks #60,077 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of perícia vs polícia
Shared letters: acipí. Private to "perícia": er. Private to "polícia": lo.
"perícia" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "polícia" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "perícia" for "polícia" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "perícia" or "polícia" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "perícia" 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 #60,077 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "perícia" and "polícia" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "polaca vs polícia". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #60,077 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.