Which to use
“tombo” and “tordo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,867
- “tombo” frequency rank
- #40,815
- “tordo” frequency rank
- 60682
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tombo | tordo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato ou efeito de tombar; queda | gênero de pássaros dentirrostros |
Where the eye mixes tombo and tordo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tombo and tordo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between tombo and tordo
A purely visual mix-up. tombo (/ˈtõ.bu/) and tordo (/ˈtoɾ.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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60682, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tombo is recorded at frequency rank #19,867, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtõ.bu/. tordo is at rank #40,815, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtoɾ.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 60682, this pair ranks #7,523 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tombo vs tordo
Shared letters: ot. Private to "tombo": bm. Private to "tordo": dr.
"tombo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "tordo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tombo" and "tordo" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "tombo" or "tordo"?
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 "tombo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tordo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #7,523 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tombo" and "tordo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tordo vs turvo". 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 #7,523 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.