Which to use
“receio” and “recibo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,578
- “receio” frequency rank
- #19,829
- “recibo” frequency rank
- 26407
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | receio | recibo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | medo | declaração escrita de se ter recebido algo; quitação |
Where the eye mixes receio and recibo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. receio (CVCVVV) and recibo (CVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses receio with recibo
A purely visual mix-up. receio (/Rɨ.ˈsɐj.u/) and recibo (/Rɨ.ˈsi.bu/) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26407, 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/. recibo is at rank #19,829, tagged as anoun, pronounced /Rɨ.ˈsi.bu/.
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 26407, this pair ranks #42,756 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of receio vs recibo
Shared letters: ceior. Private to "receio": -. Private to "recibo": b.
"receio" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV · "recibo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "receio" and "recibo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "receio" vs "recibo" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "receio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "recibo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #42,756 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "receio" and "recibo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rácio vs recibo". 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 #42,756 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.