cabevscuteConfusable pair

Which to use

“cabe” and “cute” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,011
“cabe” frequency rank
#47,692
“cute” frequency rank
49703
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cabe cute
Definition Acción de atravesar la pierna en el camino de otro para hacerlo caer. (Coragyps atratus) Tipo de ave rapaz de América que se alimenta de carroña, de plumaje negro, cabeza y cuello calvos y grisosos, y patas grises.

Where the eye mixes cabe and cute

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
cabe
4 ch
cute

Visual trap between cabe and cute

A purely visual mix-up. cabe ([ˈkaβ̞e]) and cute ([ˈkut̪e]) 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 49703, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cabe is recorded at frequency rank #2,011, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaβ̞e]. cute is at rank #47,692, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkut̪e].

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 49703, this pair ranks #107,312 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cabe vs cute

Shared letters: ce. Private to "cabe": ab. Private to "cute": tu.

"cabe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cute" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cabeacbe · cabbe · caeb · cbae · ccabe
  • cuteccute · ctue · cuet · cutte · ucte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cabe" for "cute" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkaβ̞e] versus [ˈkut̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cabe" vs "cute" - which ranks higher?
"cabe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,011 in our Spanish list, against #47,692 for "cute". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cabe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #107,312 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cabe" and "cute" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cuc vs cute". 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 #107,312 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list