viciadovsviciosoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,839
“viciado” frequency rank
#26,240
“vicioso” frequency rank
35079
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature viciado vicioso
Definition diz-se daquele ou daquilo que tem um vício que tem vícios

Where the eye mixes viciado and vicioso

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
viciado
7 ch
vicioso

Why the eye confuses viciado with vicioso

A purely visual mix-up. viciado (/vi.ˈsja.du/) and vicioso (/vi.ˈsjo.zu/) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35079, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

viciado is recorded at frequency rank #8,839, classified as anadj, pronounced /vi.ˈsja.du/. vicioso is at rank #26,240, tagged as anadj, pronounced /vi.ˈsjo.zu/.

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 35079, this pair ranks #32,029 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of viciado vs vicioso

Shared letters: ciov. Private to "viciado": ad. Private to "vicioso": s.

"viciado" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "vicioso" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • viciadoivciado · vciiado · vicaido · vicciado · viciaddo · viciaod · vicidao · viicado
  • viciosoivcioso · vciioso · viccioso · vicioos · viciosso · vicisoo · vicoiso · viicoso

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "viciado" and "vicioso" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/vi.ˈsja.du/ versus /vi.ˈsjo.zu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "viciado" vs "vicioso" - which ranks higher?
"viciado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,839 in our Portuguese list, against #26,240 for "vicioso". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "viciado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vicioso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #32,029 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "viciado" and "vicioso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vicioso vs vistoso". 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 #32,029 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