recessovsregressoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,861
“recesso” frequency rank
#4,849
“regresso” frequency rank
26710
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recesso regresso
Definition local distante e isolado ato ou efeito de regressar

Where the eye mixes recesso and regresso

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
recesso
8 ch
regresso

Look-alike desk: recesso vs regresso

A purely visual mix-up. recesso (/Rɨ.ˈsɛ.su/) and regresso (/Rɨ.ˈɡɾɛ.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 26710, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recesso is recorded at frequency rank #21,861, classified as anoun, pronounced /Rɨ.ˈsɛ.su/. regresso is at rank #4,849, tagged as anoun, pronounced /Rɨ.ˈɡɾɛ.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 26710, this pair ranks #42,385 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of recesso vs regresso

Shared letters: eors. Private to "recesso": c. Private to "regresso": g.

"recesso" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "regresso" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recessoercesso · rceesso · reccesso · receso · recesos · recseso · reecsso · rrecesso
  • regressoergresso · regersso · reggresso · regreso · regresos · regrresso · regrseso · rergesso

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "recesso" for "regresso" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/Rɨ.ˈsɛ.su/ versus /Rɨ.ˈɡɾɛ.su/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "recesso" or "regresso"?
"regresso" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,849 in our Portuguese list, against #21,861 for "recesso". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "recesso" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "regresso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #42,385 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recesso" and "regresso" 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 #42,385 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