Which to use
“viola” and “violão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,052
- “viola” frequency rank
- #5,369
- “violão” frequency rank
- 10421
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | viola | violão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | instrumento musical de corda semelhante ao violino levemente maior e afinado uma quinta abaixo | guitarra acústica com cordas de nylon, concebida inicialmente para a interpretação de peças de música clássica cujo corpo é oco e feito de várias madeiras diferentes |
Where the eye mixes viola and violão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses viola with violão
A purely visual mix-up. viola (/ˈvjɔ.lɐ/) and violão ([vio'lãw]) 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 10421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
viola is recorded at frequency rank #5,052, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈvjɔ.lɐ/. violão is at rank #5,369, tagged as anoun, pronounced [vio'lãw].
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 10421, this pair ranks #62,693 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of viola vs violão
Shared letters: ilov. Private to "viola": a. Private to "violão": ã.
"viola" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "violão" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- viola ← ivola · viloa · vioal · violla · voila · vviola
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "viola" for "violão" ever safe?
Which is more common, "viola" or "violão"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "viola" and "violão" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "viola" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "violão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #62,693 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "viola" and "violão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "violador vs violão". 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 #62,693 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.