retiradovsretratoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#6,114
“retirado” frequency rank
#4,178
“retrato” frequency rank
10292
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature retirado retrato
Definition tirado, eliminado, excluído. imagem (de pessoa) pintada, desenhada ou fotografada

Where the eye mixes retirado and retrato

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. retirado runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCV) against retrato's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
retirado
7 ch
retrato

Look-alike desk: retirado vs retrato

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: retirado is /Rɨ.ti.ˈɾa.du/ while retrato is /ʀe'tɾatʊ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10292, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

retirado is recorded at frequency rank #6,114, classified as anadj, pronounced /Rɨ.ti.ˈɾa.du/. retrato is at rank #4,178, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ʀe'tɾatʊ/.

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 10292, this pair ranks #62,863 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of retirado vs retrato

Shared letters: aeort. Private to "retirado": di. Private to "retrato": -.

"retirado" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "retrato" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • retirado ← ertirado · reitrado · retiardo · retiraddo · retiraod · retirdao · retirrado · retriado
  • retrato ← ertrato · rertato · retarto · retraot · retratto · retrrato · retrtao · rettrato

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "retirado" and "retrato" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "retirado" is an adjective and "retrato" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "retirado" or "retrato"?
"retrato" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,178 in our Portuguese list, against #6,114 for "retirado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "retirado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "retrato" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #62,863 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "retirado" and "retrato" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retidão vs retirado". 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 #62,863 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