Rad vs rey, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#35,306
“Rad” frequency rank: #8,105
“rey” frequency rank: 43411
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Rad	rey
Definition	roda	rei, monarca:

Where the eye mixes Rad and rey

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch

Rad

3 ch

rey

Why the eye confuses Rad with rey

A purely visual mix-up. Rad (/ˈraːt/) and rey (/ˈrej/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43411, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Rad is recorded at frequency rank #35,306, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈraːt/. rey is at rank #8,105, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈrej/.

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 43411, this pair ranks #22,230 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Rad vs rey

Shared letters: r. Private to "Rad": ad. Private to "rey": ey.

"Rad" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "rey" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Rad" for "rey" ever safe?

No. They are said differently (/ˈraːt/ versus /ˈrej/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Frequency check: "Rad" vs "rey" - which ranks higher?

"rey" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,105 in our Portuguese list, against #35,306 for "Rad". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

Full dictionary entry for "Rad" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "rey" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #22,230 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"Rad" and "rey" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rabi vs Rad". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #22,230 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.