cautovscrudoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#44,034
“cauto” frequency rank
#7,132
“crudo” frequency rank
51166
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cauto crudo
Definition Que actúa con reserva y sigilo para evitar posibles daños o inconvenientes Se dice del alimento que no ha sido sometido a la acción del fuego o del calor, para obtener un alimento más fácil de digerir.

Where the eye mixes cauto and crudo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cauto (CVVCV) and crudo (CCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
cauto
5 ch
crudo

Visual trap between cauto and crudo

A purely visual mix-up. cauto ([ˈkawt̪o]) and crudo ([ˈkɾuð̞o]) 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 51166, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cauto is recorded at frequency rank #44,034, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkawt̪o]. crudo is at rank #7,132, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkɾuð̞o].

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 51166, this pair ranks #99,325 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cauto vs crudo

Shared letters: cou. Private to "cauto": at. Private to "crudo": dr.

"cauto" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "crudo" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cauto ← acuto · catuo · cauot · cautto · ccauto · cuato
  • crudo ← ccrudo · crduo · crrudo · cruddo · cruod · curdo · rcudo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cauto" for "crudo" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkawt̪o] versus [ˈkɾuð̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cauto" vs "crudo" - which ranks higher?
"crudo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,132 in our Spanish list, against #44,034 for "cauto". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "cauto" and "crudo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cauto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "crudo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #99,325 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cauto" and "crudo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cart vs cauto". 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 #99,325 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