Which to use
“vil” and “vilão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,593
- “vil” frequency rank
- #7,232
- “vilão” frequency rank
- 33825
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vil | vilão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | reles | relativo ou pertencente à vila |
Where the eye mixes vil and vilão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. vil runs 3 letters (CVC) against vilão's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses vil with vilão
A purely visual mix-up. vil (/ˈviɫ/) and vilão (/bi.'laŋ/, /bi.'la.o/ ou /bi.'law/) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “vil” sits inside “vilão”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33825, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vil is recorded at frequency rank #26,593, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈviɫ/. vilão is at rank #7,232, tagged as anadj, pronounced /bi.'laŋ/, /bi.'la.o/ ou /bi.'law/.
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 33825, this pair ranks #33,584 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vil vs vilão
Shared letters: ilv. Private to "vil": -. Private to "vilão": oã.
"vil" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "vilão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vil" for "vilão" ever safe?
Frequency check: "vil" vs "vilão" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "vil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vilão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #33,584 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vil" and "vilão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "velo vs vil". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #33,584 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.