reação vs refração, What's the Difference?

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set reação and refração apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

reação

8 ch

refração

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

Frequency comparison

reação#1,864

refração#47,575

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reação" and "refração" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ʀja.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ versus /Rɨ.fɾa.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "reação" or "refração"?

"reação" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,864 in our Portuguese list, against #47,575 for "refração". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering reação vs refração

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “reação” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable