pródigovsprodutoTell them apart

Quick tell: pródigo is a adjective, produto is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pródigo” is an adjective and “produto” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,872
“pródigo” frequency rank
#1,861
“produto” frequency rank
40733
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pródigo produto
Definition diz-se de quem dissipa imoderadamente os próprios bens resultado

Where the eye mixes pródigo and produto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

7 ch
pródigo
7 ch
produto

Visual trap between pródigo and produto

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pródigo is /ˈpɾɔ.di.ɡu/ while produto is /pɾu.ˈdu.tu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40733, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pródigo is recorded at frequency rank #38,872, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈpɾɔ.di.ɡu/. produto is at rank #1,861, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɾu.ˈdu.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 40733, this pair ranks #25,322 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pródigo vs produto

Shared letters: dopr. Private to "pródigo": gió. Private to "produto": tu.

"pródigo" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "produto" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • produtoporduto · pproduto · prdouto · prodduto · prodtuo · produot · produtto · proudto

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pródigo" for "produto" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pródigo" is an adjective and "produto" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "pródigo" vs "produto" - which ranks higher?
"produto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,861 in our Portuguese list, against #38,872 for "pródigo". 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 "pródigo" and "produto" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pródigo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "produto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #25,322 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pródigo" and "produto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pródigo vs provido". 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 #25,322 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