piãovspiraWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#35,727
“pião” frequency rank
#22,419
“pira” frequency rank
58146
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pião pira
Definition 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 pira

Letter map: pião vs pira

Shared letters muted; letters that set pião and pira apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. pião (CVVV) and pira (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
pião
4 ch
pira

Spelling & dictionary notes on pião vs pira

pião and pira 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58146, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pião is recorded at frequency rank #35,727, classified as anoun. pira is at rank #22,419, tagged as anoun, pronounced /'pira/..

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 58146, this pair ranks #8,921 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pião vs pira

Shared letters: ip. Private to "pião": oã. Private to "pira": ar.

"pião" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "pira" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pira ← ipra · piar · pirra · ppira · pria

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pião" for "pira" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "pião" vs "pira" - which ranks higher?
"pira" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,419 in our Portuguese list, against #35,727 for "pião". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "pião" vs "pira" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pião" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pira" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #8,921 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pião" and "pira" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pião vs pix". 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 #8,921 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list