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Which to use

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

#31,690
“carey” frequency rank
#27,553
“cry” frequency rank
59243
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature carey cry
Definition (Eretmochelys imbricata) Gran tortuga marina que habita arrecifes coralinos en las aguas tropicales de todo el globo. Alcanza los 80 kg de peso y más de un metro de largo, con un distintivo caparazón cordiforme y un patrón de color amarillo orlando los escudos del espaldar. Tiene la cabeza elongada, con morro en forma de pico y las patas palmeadas con dos garras por pie. Capturada por sus huevos y su caparazón, está en grave riesgo de extinción. Llanto

Where the eye mixes carey and cry

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
carey
3 ch
cry

Look-alike desk: carey vs cry

A purely visual mix-up. carey ([kaˈɾej]) and cry (/kɹaɪ̯/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59243, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

carey is recorded at frequency rank #31,690, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈɾej]. cry is at rank #27,553, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹaɪ̯/.

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 59243, this pair ranks #63,360 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of carey vs cry

Shared letters: cry. Private to "carey": ae. Private to "cry": -.

"carey" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "cry" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • careyacrey · caery · careyy · carrey · carye · ccarey · craey

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "carey" and "cry" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈɾej] versus /kɹaɪ̯/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "carey" vs "cry" - which ranks higher?
"cry" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,553 in our Spanish list, against #31,690 for "carey". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "carey" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cry" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #63,360 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "carey" and "cry" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "carey vs catre". 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 #63,360 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