resolvervsrevolverWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,476
“resolver” frequency rank
#28,765
“revolver” frequency rank
30241
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature resolver revolver
Definition dissolver pouco a pouco; separar nas partes constituintes mover(-se)

Where the eye mixes resolver and revolver

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. resolver and revolver follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
resolver
8 ch
revolver

Look-alike desk: resolver vs revolver

A purely visual mix-up. resolver (/Rɨ.zoɫ.ˈveɾ/) and revolver (/Rɨ.voɫ.ˈveɾ/) 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 a single letter - s in “resolver” becomes v in “revolver”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30241, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

resolver is recorded at frequency rank #1,476, classified as averb, pronounced /Rɨ.zoɫ.ˈveɾ/. revolver is at rank #28,765, tagged as averb, pronounced /Rɨ.voɫ.ˈveɾ/.

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 30241, this pair ranks #38,175 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of resolver vs revolver

Shared letters: elorv. Private to "resolver": s. Private to "revolver": -.

"resolver" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "revolver" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • resolver ← ersolver · reoslver · reslover · resolevr · resollver · resolverr · resolvre · resolvver
  • revolver ← ervolver · reovlver · revlover · revolevr · revollver · revolverr · revolvre · revolvver

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "resolver" for "revolver" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/Rɨ.zoɫ.ˈveɾ/ versus /Rɨ.voɫ.ˈveɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "resolver" or "revolver"?
"resolver" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,476 in our Portuguese list, against #28,765 for "revolver". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "resolver" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "revolver" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #38,175 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "resolver" and "revolver" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reviver vs revolver". 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 #38,175 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