# cardiac vs cardinal

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### cardiac
*adjective · IPA /ˈkɑːdɪæk/ · frequency rank #9,022*
Pertaining to the heart.

### cardinal
*adjective · IPA /ˈkɑː.dɪ.nəl/ · frequency rank #8,253*
Of fundamental importance; crucial, pivotal.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cardiac-vs-cardinal