Which to use
“raia” and “ruína” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,104
- “raia” frequency rank
- #17,138
- “ruína” frequency rank
- 40242
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | raia | ruína |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o mesmo que arraia | um prédio ou local destruído, decaído |
Where the eye mixes raia and ruína
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. raia runs 4 letters (CVVV) against ruína's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses raia with ruína
A purely visual mix-up. raia (/ˈRaj.ɐ/) and ruína (/ˈʀwi.nɐ/) 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 40242, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
raia is recorded at frequency rank #23,104, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈRaj.ɐ/. ruína is at rank #17,138, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈʀwi.nɐ/.
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 40242, this pair ranks #25,916 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of raia vs ruína
Shared letters: ar. Private to "raia": i. Private to "ruína": nuí.
"raia" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "ruína" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- raia ← aria · raai · riaa · rraia
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "raia" and "ruína" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "raia" or "ruína"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "raia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ruína" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,916 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "raia" and "ruína" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rabi vs raia". 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 #25,916 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.