Which to use
“refém” and “revés” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,531
- “refém” frequency rank
- #28,766
- “revés” frequency rank
- 40297
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refém | revés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pessoa ou povoação que fica em poder do inimigo como penhor de um contrato | infortúnio |
Where the eye mixes refém and revés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. refém and revés follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses refém with revés
A purely visual mix-up. refém (/ʀɨ.ˈfɐ̃j̃/) and revés (/Rɨ.ˈvɛʃ/) 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 40297, 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/. revés is at rank #28,766, tagged as anoun, pronounced /Rɨ.ˈvɛʃ/.
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 40297, this pair ranks #25,835 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of refém vs revés
Shared letters: eré. Private to "refém": fm. Private to "revés": sv.
"refém" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "revés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "refém" for "revés" ever safe?
Which is more common, "refém" or "revés"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "refém" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "revés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,835 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "refém" and "revés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reles vs revés". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #25,835 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.