piorvspitoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#745
“pior” frequency rank
#43,589
“pito” frequency rank
44334
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pior pito
Definition o que é inferior a tudo o mais o mesmo que pinto; franguinho

Where the eye mixes pior and pito

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pior (CVVC) and pito (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
pior
4 ch
pito

Why the eye confuses pior with pito

A purely visual mix-up. pior (/pɪ.ˈɒɹ/) and pito (['pi.tu]) 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 44334, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pior is recorded at frequency rank #745, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɪ.ˈɒɹ/. pito is at rank #43,589, tagged as anoun, pronounced ['pi.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 44334, this pair ranks #21,163 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pior vs pito

Shared letters: iop. Private to "pior": r. Private to "pito": t.

"pior" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "pito" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pior ← ipor · piorr · piro · poir · ppior
  • pito ← ipto · piot · pitto · ppito · ptio

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pior" for "pito" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/pɪ.ˈɒɹ/ versus ['pi.tu]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pior" vs "pito" - which ranks higher?
"pior" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #745 in our Portuguese list, against #43,589 for "pito". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "pior" and "pito" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pior" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pito" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #21,163 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pior" and "pito" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pito 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 #21,163 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