Which to use
“seco” and “só” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,763
- “seco” frequency rank
- #50
- “só” frequency rank
- 4813
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seco | só |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sem água ou humidade; enxuto; árido | solitário, sem companhia, sem círculo social |
Where the eye mixes seco and só
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between seco and só
A purely visual mix-up. seco (/ˈse.ku/) and só (/ˈsɔ/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4813, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
seco is recorded at frequency rank #4,763, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈse.ku/. só is at rank #50, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈsɔ/.
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 4813, this pair ranks #69,964 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of seco vs só
Shared letters: s. Private to "seco": ceo. Private to "só": ó.
"seco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "só" · 2 letters · shape CV
Known mistypes of this pair
- seco ← esco · sceo · secco · seoc · sseco
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "seco" and "só" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "seco" or "só" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "seco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "só" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #69,964 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "seco" and "só" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seco vs sueño". 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 #69,964 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.