Which to use
“reação” and “receção” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,864
- “reação” frequency rank
- #37,068
- “receção” frequency rank
- 38932
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reação | receção |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ação provocada em razão de uma outra anteriormente ocorrida | vide recepção |
Where the eye mixes reação and receção
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. reação runs 6 letters (CVVCVV) against receção's 7 (CVCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between reação and receção
A purely visual mix-up. reação (/ʀja.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and receção (/ʀəsɛˈsɐ̃w̃/) 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 38932, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reação is recorded at frequency rank #1,864, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʀja.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. receção is at rank #37,068, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ʀəsɛˈsɐ̃w̃/.
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 38932, this pair ranks #27,444 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of reação vs receção
Shared letters: eorãç. Private to "reação": a. Private to "receção": c.
"reação" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV · "receção" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "reação" and "receção" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "reação" or "receção" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "reação" and "receção" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "reação" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "receção" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #27,444 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reação" and "receção" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "receção vs receoso". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #27,444 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.