raiarvsrasparConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#37,986
“raiar” frequency rank
#24,133
“raspar” frequency rank
62119
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature raiar raspar
Definition emitir raios desbastar uma superfície

Where the eye mixes raiar and raspar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. raiar runs 5 letters (CVVVC) against raspar's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
raiar
6 ch
raspar

Look-alike desk: raiar vs raspar

A purely visual mix-up. raiar (/Raj.ˈaɾ/) and raspar (/Rɐʃ.ˈpaɾ/) 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 62119, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

raiar is recorded at frequency rank #37,986, classified as averb, pronounced /Raj.ˈaɾ/. raspar is at rank #24,133, tagged as averb, pronounced /Rɐʃ.ˈpaɾ/.

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 62119, this pair ranks #6,822 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of raiar vs raspar

Shared letters: ar. Private to "raiar": i. Private to "raspar": ps.

"raiar" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC  ·  "raspar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • raiar ← ariar · raair · raiarr · raira · riaar · rraiar
  • raspar ← arspar · rapsar · rasapr · rasparr · rasppar · raspra · rasspar · rraspar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "raiar" for "raspar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/Raj.ˈaɾ/ versus /Rɐʃ.ˈpaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "raiar" vs "raspar" - which ranks higher?
"raspar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,133 in our Portuguese list, against #37,986 for "raiar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "raiar" and "raspar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "raiar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "raspar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #6,822 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "raiar" and "raspar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "raiar vs rimar". 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 #6,822 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