arrepio vs arroio, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#20,501
“arrepio” frequency rank: #31,648
“arroio” frequency rank: 52149
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	arrepio	arroio
Definition	tremor passageiro causado por frio ou medo	ribeiro

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set arrepio and arroio apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

arrepio

6 ch

arroio

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. arrepio (/ɐ.Rɨ.ˈpi.u/) and arroio (/a.ˈχoj.u/) 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 52149, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arrepio is recorded at frequency rank #20,501, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.Rɨ.ˈpi.u/. arroio is at rank #31,648, tagged as anoun, pronounced /a.ˈχoj.u/.

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 52149, this pair ranks #12,990 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of arrepio vs arroio

Shared letters: aior. Private to "arrepio": ep. Private to "arroio": -.

"arrepio" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV · "arroio" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

arrepio ← arepio · arerpio · arreipo · arrepoi · arreppio · arrpeio · rarepio
arroio ← aroio · arorio · arrioo · arrooi · raroio

Frequency comparison

arrepio#20,501

arroio#31,648

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "arrepio" and "arroio" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ɐ.Rɨ.ˈpi.u/ versus /a.ˈχoj.u/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "arrepio" or "arroio"?

"arrepio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,501 in our Portuguese list, against #31,648 for "arroio". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering arrepio vs arroio

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 “arrepio” entry
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