citevscutWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: cite is a verb, cut is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cite” is a verb and “cut” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,003
“cite” frequency rank
#24,090
“cut” frequency rank
58093
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cite cut
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de citar. Corte, incisión.

Where the eye mixes cite and cut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
cite
3 ch
cut

Look-alike desk: cite vs cut

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cite is [ˈsit̪e] while cut is /kʌt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58093, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cite is recorded at frequency rank #34,003, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈsit̪e]. cut is at rank #24,090, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kʌt/.

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 58093, this pair ranks #67,841 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cite vs cut

Shared letters: ct. Private to "cite": ei. Private to "cut": u.

"cite" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cut" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • citeccite · ciet · citte · ctie · icte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cite" and "cut" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cite" is a verb and "cut" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cite" or "cut" show up more?
"cut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,090 in our Spanish list, against #34,003 for "cite". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #67,841 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cite" and "cut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "catre vs cite". 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 #67,841 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