rasgovsrastroTell them apart

Which to use

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

#35,752
“rasgo” frequency rank
#15,663
“rastro” frequency rank
51415
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rasgo rastro
Definition seccionamento parcial ou total da superfície de um corpo ou objeto; interrupção abrupta na continuidade daquela superfície veja rasto

Where the eye mixes rasgo and rastro

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

5 ch
rasgo
6 ch
rastro

Why the eye confuses rasgo with rastro

A purely visual mix-up. rasgo (/ˈRaʒ.ɡu/) and rastro ('ʁaʃ.tɾʊ) 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 51415, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rasgo is recorded at frequency rank #35,752, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈRaʒ.ɡu/. rastro is at rank #15,663, tagged as anoun, pronounced 'ʁaʃ.tɾʊ.

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 51415, this pair ranks #13,625 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of rasgo vs rastro

Shared letters: aors. Private to "rasgo": g. Private to "rastro": t.

"rasgo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "rastro" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rasgo ← arsgo · ragso · rasggo · rasog · rassgo · rrasgo · rsago
  • rastro ← arstro · rasrto · rasstro · rastor · rastrro · rasttro · ratsro · rrastro

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "rasgo" for "rastro" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈRaʒ.ɡu/ versus 'ʁaʃ.tɾʊ) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "rasgo" vs "rastro" - which ranks higher?
"rastro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,663 in our Portuguese list, against #35,752 for "rasgo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "rasgo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rastro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #13,625 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rasgo" and "rastro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rasgo vs ratio". 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 #13,625 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