Which to use
“variação” is a noun and “variado” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,356
- “variação” frequency rank
- #20,463
- “variado” frequency rank
- 26819
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | variação | variado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mudança | que sofreu variações |
Where the eye mixes variação and variado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. variação runs 8 letters (CVCVVCVV) against variado's 7 (CVCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: variação vs variado
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: variação is /vɐ.ɾjɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ while variado is /vɐ.ˈɾja.du/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26819, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
variação is recorded at frequency rank #6,356, classified as anoun, pronounced /vɐ.ɾjɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. variado is at rank #20,463, tagged as anadj, pronounced /vɐ.ˈɾja.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 26819, this pair ranks #42,274 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of variação vs variado
Shared letters: aiorv. Private to "variação": ãç. Private to "variado": d.
"variação" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVV · "variado" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- variado ← avriado · vairado · varaido · variaddo · variaod · varidao · varriado · vraiado
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "variação" for "variado" ever safe?
Which is more common, "variação" or "variado"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "variação" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "variado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #42,274 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "variação" and "variado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "varão vs variado". 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 #42,274 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.