varãovsvorazWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#29,181
“varão” frequency rank
#35,400
“voraz” frequency rank
64581
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature varão voraz
Definition de sexo masculino: que devora

Where the eye mixes varão and voraz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. varão (CVCVV) and voraz (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
varão
5 ch
voraz

Look-alike desk: varão vs voraz

A purely visual mix-up. varão (/va.ˈɾɐ~w/) and voraz (/vu.ˈɾaʃ/) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64581, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

varão is recorded at frequency rank #29,181, classified as anadj, pronounced /va.ˈɾɐ~w/. voraz is at rank #35,400, tagged as anadj, pronounced /vu.ˈɾaʃ/.

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 64581, this pair ranks #5,714 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of varão vs voraz

Shared letters: aorv. Private to "varão": ã. Private to "voraz": z.

"varão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "voraz" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • voraz ← ovraz · voarz · vorazz · vorraz · vorza · vroaz · vvoraz

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "varão" and "voraz" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/va.ˈɾɐ~w/ versus /vu.ˈɾaʃ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "varão" vs "voraz" - which ranks higher?
"varão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,181 in our Portuguese list, against #35,400 for "voraz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "varão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "voraz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #5,714 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "varão" and "voraz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vivaz vs voraz". 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 #5,714 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