pródigovsprovidoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#38,872
“pródigo” frequency rank
#42,625
“provido” frequency rank
81497
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pródigo provido
Definition diz-se de quem dissipa imoderadamente os próprios bens munido, fornecido, fornido

Where the eye mixes pródigo and provido

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pródigo and provido follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
pródigo
7 ch
provido

Visual trap between pródigo and provido

A purely visual mix-up. pródigo (/ˈpɾɔ.di.ɡu/) and provido (/pɾu.ˈvi.du/) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81497, 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/. provido is at rank #42,625, tagged as anadj, pronounced /pɾu.ˈvi.du/.

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 81497, this pair ranks #1,156 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pródigo vs provido

Shared letters: diopr. Private to "pródigo": gó. Private to "provido": v.

"pródigo" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "provido" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • provido ← porvido · pprovido · proivdo · provdio · providdo · proviod · provvido · prrovido

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pródigo" and "provido" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈpɾɔ.di.ɡu/ versus /pɾu.ˈvi.du/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pródigo" or "provido"?
"pródigo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,872 in our Portuguese list, against #42,625 for "provido". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "pródigo" and "provido" 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 "provido" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,156 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pródigo" and "provido" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "polido 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 #1,156 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