tímidovstípicoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,625
“tímido” frequency rank
#5,154
“típico” frequency rank
15779
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tímido típico
Definition estado ou condição de quem tem timidez; que não tem autoconfiança diz-se daquilo que serve como espécime tipo de algo

Where the eye mixes tímido and típico

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

6 ch
tímido
6 ch
típico

Look-alike desk: tímido vs típico

A purely visual mix-up. tímido (/ˈti.mi.du/) and típico (/ˈti.pi.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 15779, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tímido is recorded at frequency rank #10,625, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈti.mi.du/. típico is at rank #5,154, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈti.pi.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 15779, this pair ranks #55,946 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tímido vs típico

Shared letters: iotí. Private to "tímido": dm. Private to "típico": cp.

"tímido" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "típico" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tímido" and "típico" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈti.mi.du/ versus /ˈti.pi.ku/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tímido" vs "típico" - which ranks higher?
"típico" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,154 in our Portuguese list, against #10,625 for "tímido". 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 "tímido" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "típico" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #55,946 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tímido" and "típico" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tímido vs titio". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #55,946 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