ráciovsrançoConfusable pair

Quick tell: rácio is a noun, ranço is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“rácio” is a noun and “ranço” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,370
“rácio” frequency rank
#36,613
“ranço” frequency rank
75983
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rácio ranço
Definition relação aquela comida ou gordura que em contato com o ar tornou de sabor acre

Letter map: rácio vs ranço

Shared letters muted; letters that set rácio and ranço apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. rácio (CVCVV) and ranço (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
rácio
5 ch
ranço

Part-of-speech tell for rácio / ranço

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: rácio is anoun and rançoanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75983, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rácio is recorded at frequency rank #39,370, classified as anoun. ranço is at rank #36,613, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈRɐ̃.su/.

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 75983, this pair ranks #2,184 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of rácio vs ranço

Shared letters: or. Private to "rácio": ciá. Private to "ranço": anç.

"rácio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "ranço" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "rácio" and "ranço" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rácio" is a noun and "ranço" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "rácio" or "ranço" show up more?
"ranço" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,613 in our Portuguese list, against #39,370 for "rácio". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "rácio" vs "ranço" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "rácio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ranço" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,184 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rácio" and "ranço" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rabi vs rácio". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #2,184 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list