viávelvsvisívelConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#10,293
“viável” frequency rank
#4,775
“visível” frequency rank
15068
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature viável visível
Definition que pode ser percorrido que se pode ver

Where the eye mixes viável and visível

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. viável runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against visível's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
viável
7 ch
visível

Why the eye confuses viável with visível

A purely visual mix-up. viável (/ˈvja.vɛɫ/) and visível (/vi.ˈzi.vɛɫ/) 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 15068, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

viável is recorded at frequency rank #10,293, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈvja.vɛɫ/. visível is at rank #4,775, tagged as anadj, pronounced /vi.ˈzi.vɛɫ/.

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 15068, this pair ranks #56,865 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of viável vs visível

Shared letters: eilv. Private to "viável": á. Private to "visível": sí.

"viável" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "visível" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "viável" for "visível" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈvja.vɛɫ/ versus /vi.ˈzi.vɛɫ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "viável" or "visível"?
"visível" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,775 in our Portuguese list, against #10,293 for "viável". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "viável" and "visível" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "viável" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "visível" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #56,865 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "viável" and "visível" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "variável vs viável". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #56,865 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