Which to use
“receio” and “recesso” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,578
- “receio” frequency rank
- #21,861
- “recesso” frequency rank
- 28439
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | receio | recesso |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | medo | local distante e isolado |
Where the eye mixes receio and recesso
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. receio runs 6 letters (CVCVVV) against recesso's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: receio vs recesso
A purely visual mix-up. receio (/Rɨ.ˈsɐj.u/) and recesso (/Rɨ.ˈsɛ.su/) 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 28439, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
receio is recorded at frequency rank #6,578, classified as anoun, pronounced /Rɨ.ˈsɐj.u/. recesso is at rank #21,861, tagged as anoun, pronounced /Rɨ.ˈsɛ.su/.
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 28439, this pair ranks #40,370 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of receio vs recesso
Shared letters: ceor. Private to "receio": i. Private to "recesso": s.
"receio" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV · "recesso" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "receio" and "recesso" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "receio" vs "recesso" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "receio" and "recesso" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "receio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "recesso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #40,370 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "receio" and "recesso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "receoso vs recesso". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #40,370 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.