Which to use
“vilão” is an adjective and “vulcão” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,232
- “vilão” frequency rank
- #10,987
- “vulcão” frequency rank
- 18219
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vilão | vulcão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | relativo ou pertencente à vila | estrutura geológica pela qual são expelidas substâncias (geralmente magma) presentes no interior da Terra |
Where the eye mixes vilão and vulcão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. vilão runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against vulcão's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: vilão vs vulcão
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vilão is /bi.'laŋ/, /bi.'la.o/ ou /bi.'law/ while vulcão is /vuɫ.ˈkɐ̃w̃/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18219, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vilão is recorded at frequency rank #7,232, classified as anadj, pronounced /bi.'laŋ/, /bi.'la.o/ ou /bi.'law/. vulcão is at rank #10,987, tagged as anoun, pronounced /vuɫ.ˈkɐ̃w̃/.
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 18219, this pair ranks #52,821 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vilão vs vulcão
Shared letters: lovã. Private to "vilão": i. Private to "vulcão": cu.
"vilão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "vulcão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vilão" and "vulcão" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "vilão" or "vulcão" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "vilão" and "vulcão" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "vilão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vulcão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #52,821 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vilão" and "vulcão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vulcão vs vulva". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #52,821 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.