Which to use
“cera” is a noun and “cerrar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,952
- “cera” frequency rank
- #2,070
- “cerrar” frequency rank
- 12022
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cera | cerrar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Se llama así a cualquier éster de los ácidos grasos con alcoholes de peso molecular elevado, es decir, son moléculas que se obtienen por esterificación de un ácido graso con un alcohol monovalente lineal de cadena larga. Por ejemplo la cera de abeja. Son sustancias altamente insolubles en medios acuosos y a temperatura ambiente se presentan sólidas y duras. En los animales la podemos encontrar en la superficie del cuerpo, piel, plumas. En vegetales las ceras recubren en la epidermis de frutos, tallos, junto con la cutícula o la suberina, que evitan la pérdida de agua por evaporación en las plantas. | Colocar o modificar algo para evitar su apertura. |
Where the eye mixes cera and cerrar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cera runs 4 letters (CVCV) against cerrar's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: cera vs cerrar
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cera is [ˈseɾa] while cerrar is [seˈraɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12022, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cera is recorded at frequency rank #9,952, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈseɾa]. cerrar is at rank #2,070, tagged as averb, pronounced [seˈraɾ].
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 12022, this pair ranks #293,022 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cera vs cerrar
Shared letters: acer. Private to "cera": -. Private to "cerrar": -.
"cera" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cerrar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cera" for "cerrar" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cera" or "cerrar"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cera" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cerrar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #293,022 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cera" and "cerrar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cederá vs cera". 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 #293,022 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.