Which to use
“prisão” and “prosa” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #834
- “prisão” frequency rank
- #12,526
- “prosa” frequency rank
- 13360
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prisão | prosa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato ou efeito de prender | forma natural de falar ou escrever sem versos, métrica ou rima |
Where the eye mixes prisão and prosa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses prisão with prosa
A purely visual mix-up. prisão (/pɾi.ˈzɐ̃w̃/) and prosa (/ˈpɾɔ.zɐ/) 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 13360, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prisão is recorded at frequency rank #834, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɾi.ˈzɐ̃w̃/. prosa is at rank #12,526, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɾɔ.zɐ/.
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 13360, this pair ranks #59,006 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of prisão vs prosa
Shared letters: oprs. Private to "prisão": iã. Private to "prosa": a.
"prisão" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV · "prosa" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- prosa ← porsa · pprosa · proas · prossa · prrosa · prsoa · rposa
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "prisão" for "prosa" ever safe?
Which is more common, "prisão" or "prosa"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "prisão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prosa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #59,006 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prisão" and "prosa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pola vs prosa". 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 #59,006 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.