tradição vs traição, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#2,121
“tradição” frequency rank: #5,364
“traição” frequency rank: 7485
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	tradição	traição
Definition	a passagem de crenças, lendas, costumes, informação etc de geração para geração, principalmente por via oral ou pela prática	violação da confiança alheia; perfídia

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tradição and traição apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

tradição

7 ch

traição

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

tradição and traição are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7485, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tradição is recorded at frequency rank #2,121, classified as anoun, pronounced /tɾɐ.di.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. traição is at rank #5,364, tagged as anoun.

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 7485, this pair ranks #66,636 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tradição vs traição

Shared letters: aiortãç. Private to "tradição": d. Private to "traição": -.

"tradição" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV · "traição" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVV

Frequency comparison

tradição#2,121

traição#5,364

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tradição" and "traição" be used interchangeably?

No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

Which is more common, "tradição" or "traição"?

"tradição" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,121 in our Portuguese list, against #5,364 for "traição". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tradição vs traição

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tradição” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable