raivavsraizConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#1,906
“raiva” frequency rank
#4,512
“raiz” frequency rank
6418
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature raiva raiz
Definition doença infecciosa aguda causada por um vírus de ARN da família dos rabdovírus, transmitida ao homem pela mordida de animais infectados, como o cão, gato, lobo etc., caracterizada por lesões do sistema nervoso central que provocam convulsão, tetania e paralisia respiratória; hidrofobia que tem aspecto ou é afeito à forma mais convencional ou tradicional, ou mesmo paradigmática, de algo ou algum lugar

Where the eye mixes raiva and raiz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
raiva
4 ch
raiz

Visual trap between raiva and raiz

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: raiva is /ˈRaj.vɐ/ while raiz is /ˈʁajs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6418, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

raiva is recorded at frequency rank #1,906, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈRaj.vɐ/. raiz is at rank #4,512, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈʁajs/.

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 6418, this pair ranks #68,023 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of raiva vs raiz

Shared letters: air. Private to "raiva": v. Private to "raiz": z.

"raiva" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "raiz" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • raivaariva · raiav · raivva · ravia · riava · rraiva
  • raizariz · raizz · razi · riaz · rraiz

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "raiva" for "raiz" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "raiva" is a noun and "raiz" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "raiva" or "raiz" show up more?
"raiva" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,906 in our Portuguese list, against #4,512 for "raiz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "raiva" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "raiz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #68,023 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "raiva" and "raiz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rabi vs raiz". 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 #68,023 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