repelirvsrevelarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#30,707
“repelir” frequency rank
#4,516
“revelar” frequency rank
35223
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature repelir revelar
Definition impelir para trás ou para fora tirar o véu a

Where the eye mixes repelir and revelar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
repelir
7 ch
revelar

Why the eye confuses repelir with revelar

A purely visual mix-up. repelir (/Rɨ.pɨ.ˈliɾ/) and revelar (/Rɨ.vɨ.ˈlaɾ/) 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 35223, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

repelir is recorded at frequency rank #30,707, classified as averb, pronounced /Rɨ.pɨ.ˈliɾ/. revelar is at rank #4,516, tagged as averb, pronounced /Rɨ.vɨ.ˈlaɾ/.

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 35223, this pair ranks #31,858 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of repelir vs revelar

Shared letters: elr. Private to "repelir": ip. Private to "revelar": av.

"repelir" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "revelar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • repelirerpelir · reeplir · repeilr · repelirr · repellir · repelri · repleir · reppelir
  • revelarervelar · reevlar · revealr · revelarr · revellar · revelra · revlear · revvelar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "repelir" and "revelar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/Rɨ.pɨ.ˈliɾ/ versus /Rɨ.vɨ.ˈlaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "repelir" vs "revelar" - which ranks higher?
"revelar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,516 in our Portuguese list, against #30,707 for "repelir". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "repelir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "revelar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #31,858 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "repelir" and "revelar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "repelir vs revelia". 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 #31,858 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