cafévscuteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,337
“café” frequency rank
#47,692
“cute” frequency rank
49029
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature café cute
Definition Semilla del fruto del cafeto, rica en el estimulante cafeína, que se emplea tostada y molida para preparar una bebida con estas propiedades que se consume en casi todo el mundo. Es el segundo producto en volumen en el comercio internacional, solo superado por el petróleo. (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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set café and cute apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
café
4 ch
cute

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. café ([kaˈfe]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49029, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

café is recorded at frequency rank #1,337, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈfe]. 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 49029, this pair ranks #111,146 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of café vs cute

Shared letters: c. Private to "café": afé. Private to "cute": etu.

"café" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cute" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cuteccute · ctue · cuet · cutte · ucte

Frequency comparison

café#1,337
cute#47,692

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "café" and "cute" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈfe] versus [ˈkut̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "café" or "cute"?
"café" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,337 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.

Remembering café vs cute

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “café” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list