Which to use
“reação” and “refração” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,864
- “reação” frequency rank
- #47,575
- “refração” frequency rank
- 49439
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reação | refração |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ação provocada em razão de uma outra anteriormente ocorrida | mudança na direção de propagação de uma onda devido a uma mudança no meio pelo qual ela transita |
Where the eye mixes reação and refração
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. reação runs 6 letters (CVVCVV) against refração's 8 (CVCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses reação with refração
A purely visual mix-up. reação (/ʀja.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and refração (/Rɨ.fɾa.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49439, 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/. refração is at rank #47,575, tagged as anoun, pronounced /Rɨ.fɾa.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.
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 49439, this pair ranks #15,564 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of reação vs refração
Shared letters: aeorãç. Private to "reação": -. Private to "refração": f.
"reação" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV · "refração" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "reação" for "refração" ever safe?
Frequency check: "reação" vs "refração" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "reação" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "refração" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #15,564 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reação" and "refração" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recriação vs refração". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #15,564 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.