realizaçãovsretaliaçãoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,252
“realização” frequency rank
#15,912
“retaliação” frequency rank
18164
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature realização retaliação
Definition feito ato ou efeito de retaliar, vingança

Where the eye mixes realização and retaliação

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. realização (CVVCVCVCVV) and retaliação (CVCVCVVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
realização
10 ch
retaliação

Why the eye confuses realização with retaliação

A purely visual mix-up. realização (/Rjɐ.li.zɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and retaliação (/Rɨ.tɐ.ljɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18164, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

realização is recorded at frequency rank #2,252, classified as anoun, pronounced /Rjɐ.li.zɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. retaliação is at rank #15,912, tagged as anoun, pronounced /Rɨ.tɐ.ljɐ.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 18164, this pair ranks #52,887 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of realização vs retaliação

Shared letters: aeilorãç. Private to "realização": z. Private to "retaliação": t.

"realização" · 10 letters · shape CVVCVCVCVV  ·  "retaliação" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "realização" and "retaliação" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/Rjɐ.li.zɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ versus /Rɨ.tɐ.ljɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "realização" or "retaliação" show up more?
"realização" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,252 in our Portuguese list, against #15,912 for "retaliação". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "realização" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "retaliação" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #52,887 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "realização" and "retaliação" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "realização vs reanimação". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #52,887 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