táticovstóxicoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#17,937
“tático” frequency rank
#13,631
“tóxico” frequency rank
31568
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tático tóxico
Definition relativo à tática; nessa acepção ver também táctico que envenena

Where the eye mixes tático and tóxico

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

6 ch
tático
6 ch
tóxico

Visual trap between tático and tóxico

A purely visual mix-up. tático (/ˈta.ti.ku/) and tóxico (/ˈtɔ.ksi.ku/) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31568, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tático is recorded at frequency rank #17,937, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈta.ti.ku/. tóxico is at rank #13,631, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈtɔ.ksi.ku/.

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 31568, this pair ranks #36,469 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tático vs tóxico

Shared letters: ciot. Private to "tático": á. Private to "tóxico": xó.

"tático" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "tóxico" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tático" and "tóxico" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈta.ti.ku/ versus /ˈtɔ.ksi.ku/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tático" or "tóxico"?
"tóxico" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,631 in our Portuguese list, against #17,937 for "tático". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "tático" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tóxico" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #36,469 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tático" and "tóxico" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tático vs titio". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #36,469 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