receçãovsrecreaçãoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#37,068
“receção” frequency rank
#21,566
“recreação” frequency rank
58634
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature receção recreação
Definition vide recepção descanso, lazer, divertimento; ato, circunstância ou momento em que o indivíduo se diverte, descansa, brinca, e se manifesta através de "matar a vontade de", ou seja, tornar-se sua vontade algo consequentemente realizado, visando melhoria ao seu bem estar e comodismo

Letter map: receção vs recreação

Shared letters muted; letters that set receção and recreação apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. receção runs 7 letters (CVCVCVV) against recreação's 9 (CVCCVVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
receção
9 ch
recreação

Corpus notes: receção and recreação

receção and recreação are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58634, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

receção is recorded at frequency rank #37,068, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʀəsɛˈsɐ̃w̃/. recreação is at rank #21,566, tagged as anoun.

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 58634, this pair ranks #8,627 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of receção vs recreação

Shared letters: ceorãç. Private to "receção": -. Private to "recreação": a.

"receção" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "recreação" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "receção" and "recreação" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "receção" or "recreação" show up more?
"recreação" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,566 in our Portuguese list, against #37,068 for "receção". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "receção" vs "recreação" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "receção" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "recreação" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #8,627 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "receção" and "recreação" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "receção vs receoso". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #8,627 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