cerradosvscriadosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,153
“cerrados” frequency rank
#17,655
“criados” frequency rank
23808
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cerrados criados
Definition Forma del plural de cerrado, participio de cerrar. Forma del plural de criado, participio de criar o de criarse.

Where the eye mixes cerrados and criados

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. cerrados runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against criados's 7 (CCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
cerrados
7 ch
criados

Look-alike desk: cerrados vs criados

A purely visual mix-up. cerrados ([seˈrað̞os]) and criados ([ˈkɾjað̞os]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23808, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cerrados is recorded at frequency rank #6,153, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [seˈrað̞os]. criados is at rank #17,655, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [ˈkɾjað̞os].

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 23808, this pair ranks #244,055 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cerrados vs criados

Shared letters: acdors. Private to "cerrados": e. Private to "criados": i.

"cerrados" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "criados" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cerrados ← ccerrados · cerados · cerardos · cerraddos · cerradoss · cerradso · cerraods · cerrdaos
  • criados ← ccriados · cirados · craidos · criaddos · criadoss · criadso · criaods · cridaos

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cerrados" and "criados" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([seˈrað̞os] versus [ˈkɾjað̞os]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cerrados" or "criados"?
"cerrados" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,153 in our Spanish list, against #17,655 for "criados". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cerrados" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "criados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #244,055 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cerrados" and "criados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "criador vs criados". 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 #244,055 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