Which to use
“receção” and “refeição” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,068
- “receção” frequency rank
- #6,468
- “refeição” frequency rank
- 43536
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | receção | refeição |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | vide recepção | porção de alimento consumido a certas horas do dia |
Where the eye mixes receção and refeição
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. receção runs 7 letters (CVCVCVV) against refeição's 8 (CVCVVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: receção vs refeição
A purely visual mix-up. receção (/ʀəsɛˈsɐ̃w̃/) and refeição (/χe.fej.ˈsãw/) 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 43536, 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/. refeição is at rank #6,468, tagged as anoun, pronounced /χe.fej.ˈsãw/.
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 43536, this pair ranks #22,081 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of receção vs refeição
Shared letters: eorãç. Private to "receção": c. Private to "refeição": fi.
"receção" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "refeição" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "receção" and "refeição" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "receção" or "refeição" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "receção" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "refeição" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #22,081 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "receção" and "refeição" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "receção vs receoso". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #22,081 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.