viação vs vício, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#17,667
“viação” frequency rank: #7,235
“vício” frequency rank: 24902
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	viação	vício
Definition	empresa de ônibus ou de outros veículos de passageiros	defeito

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set viação and vício apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

viação

5 ch

vício

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. viação (/vjɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and vício (/ˈvi.sju/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24902, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

viação is recorded at frequency rank #17,667, classified as anoun, pronounced /vjɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. vício is at rank #7,235, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈvi.sju/.

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 24902, this pair ranks #44,547 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of viação vs vício

Shared letters: iov. Private to "viação": aãç. Private to "vício": cí.

"viação" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV · "vício" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Frequency comparison

viação#17,667

vício#7,235

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "viação" and "vício" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/vjɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ versus /ˈvi.sju/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "viação" or "vício"?

"vício" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,235 in our Portuguese list, against #17,667 for "viação". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering viação vs vício

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 “viação” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable