Which to use
“refém” is a noun and “reles” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,531
- “refém” frequency rank
- #45,062
- “reles” frequency rank
- 56593
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refém | reles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pessoa ou povoação que fica em poder do inimigo como penhor de um contrato | ordinário |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set refém and reles apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
refém and reles form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56593, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
refém is recorded at frequency rank #11,531, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʀɨ.ˈfɐ̃j̃/. reles is at rank #45,062, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈχɛ.lis/.
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 56593, this pair ranks #9,865 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "refém" and "reles" be used interchangeably?
Remembering refém vs reles
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “refém”; for an adjective, it's “reles”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “refém” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable