Which to use
“ratio” is a noun and “retro” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,527
- “ratio” frequency rank
- #24,145
- “retro” frequency rank
- 70672
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ratio | retro |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | quociente, proporção, razão | que tem traço aspectual que remonta ou é similar a de coisa que já foi comum, vigente ou generalizado em tempo passado |
Where the eye mixes ratio and retro
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. ratio (CVCVV) and retro (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: ratio vs retro
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ratio is /ɻeɪ.ʃi.oʊ/ while retro is /ˈχɛ.tɾʊ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70672, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ratio is recorded at frequency rank #46,527, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɻeɪ.ʃi.oʊ/. retro is at rank #24,145, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈχɛ.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 70672, this pair ranks #3,556 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ratio vs retro
Shared letters: ort. Private to "ratio": ai. Private to "retro": e.
"ratio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "retro" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ratio" for "retro" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ratio" vs "retro" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ratio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #3,556 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ratio" and "retro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rabi 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 #3,556 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.