Which to use
“pilão” and “pulo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,522
- “pilão” frequency rank
- #16,593
- “pulo” frequency rank
- 62115
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pilão | pulo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mão do almofariz | ato de pular; salto pequeno |
Where the eye mixes pilão and pulo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pilão runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against pulo's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between pilão and pulo
A purely visual mix-up. pilão (/pi.ˈlɐ̃w̃/) and pulo (/ˈpu.lu/) 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 62115, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pilão is recorded at frequency rank #45,522, classified as anoun, pronounced /pi.ˈlɐ̃w̃/. pulo is at rank #16,593, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpu.lu/.
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 62115, this pair ranks #6,825 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pilão vs pulo
Shared letters: lop. Private to "pilão": iã. Private to "pulo": u.
"pilão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "pulo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pulo ← pluo · ppulo · pullo · puol · uplo
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pilão" for "pulo" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pilão" vs "pulo" - which ranks higher?
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 "pilão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pulo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #6,825 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pilão" and "pulo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pilão vs platô". 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 #6,825 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.