relaxarvsrepararWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,112
“relaxar” frequency rank
#8,951
“reparar” frequency rank
15063
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature relaxar reparar
Definition tranquilizar consertar

Where the eye mixes relaxar and reparar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. relaxar and reparar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
relaxar
7 ch
reparar

Why the eye confuses relaxar with reparar

A purely visual mix-up. relaxar (/Rɨ.la.ˈʃaɾ/) and reparar (/Rɨ.pɐ.ˈɾaɾ/) 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 15063, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

relaxar is recorded at frequency rank #6,112, classified as averb, pronounced /Rɨ.la.ˈʃaɾ/. reparar is at rank #8,951, tagged as averb, pronounced /Rɨ.pɐ.ˈɾaɾ/.

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 15063, this pair ranks #56,871 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of relaxar vs reparar

Shared letters: aer. Private to "relaxar": lx. Private to "reparar": p.

"relaxar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "reparar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • relaxar ← erlaxar · realxar · relaaxr · relaxarr · relaxra · relaxxar · rellaxar · relxaar
  • reparar ← erparar · reaprar · repaarr · repararr · reparra · reparrar · repparar · repraar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "relaxar" and "reparar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/Rɨ.la.ˈʃaɾ/ versus /Rɨ.pɐ.ˈɾaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "relaxar" or "reparar"?
"relaxar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,112 in our Portuguese list, against #8,951 for "reparar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "relaxar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reparar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #56,871 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "relaxar" and "reparar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reatar vs reparar". 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 #56,871 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