Which to use
“race” and “Rad” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,135
- “race” frequency rank
- #35,306
- “Rad” frequency rank
- 47441
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | race | Rad |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | raça | roda |
Where the eye mixes race and Rad
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. race runs 4 letters (CVCV) against Rad's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses race with Rad
A purely visual mix-up. race (/ɹeɪs/) and Rad (/ˈraːt/) 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 47441, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
race is recorded at frequency rank #12,135, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹeɪs/. Rad is at rank #35,306, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈraːt/.
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 47441, this pair ranks #17,809 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of race vs Rad
Shared letters: ar. Private to "race": ce. Private to "Rad": d.
"race" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "Rad" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- race ← racce · raec · rcae · rrace
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "race" for "Rad" ever safe?
Which is more common, "race" or "Rad"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "race" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Rad" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #17,809 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "race" and "Rad" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rabi vs Rad". 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 #17,809 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.