Which to use
“pilão” and “pulso” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,522
- “pilão” frequency rank
- #8,944
- “pulso” frequency rank
- 54466
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pilão | pulso |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mão do almofariz | parte do antebraço junto à mão |
Where the eye mixes pilão and pulso
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pilão (CVCVV) and pulso (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: pilão vs pulso
A purely visual mix-up. pilão (/pi.ˈlɐ̃w̃/) and pulso (/ˈpuɫ.su/) 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 54466, 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/. pulso is at rank #8,944, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpuɫ.su/.
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 54466, this pair ranks #11,235 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pilão vs pulso
Shared letters: lop. Private to "pilão": iã. Private to "pulso": su.
"pilão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "pulso" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pulso ← pluso · ppulso · pullso · pulos · pulsso · puslo · uplso
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pilão" and "pulso" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "pilão" or "pulso"?
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 "pulso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #11,235 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pilão" and "pulso" 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 #11,235 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.