vil vs vilão, What's the Difference?

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 spellings diverge

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

3 ch

vil

5 ch

vilão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

Frequency comparison

vil#26,593

vilão#7,232

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vil" and "vilão" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ˈviɫ/ versus /bi.'laŋ/, /bi.'la.o/ ou /bi.'law/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "vil" or "vilão"?

"vilão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,232 in our Portuguese list, against #26,593 for "vil". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering vil vs vilão

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