cutevscutreWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cute is a noun, cutre is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cute” is a noun and “cutre” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,692
“cute” frequency rank
#33,521
“cutre” frequency rank
81213
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cute cutre
Definition (Coragyps atratus) Tipo de ave rapaz de América que se alimenta de carroña, de plumaje negro, cabeza y cuello calvos y grisosos, y patas grises. Tacaño, miserable.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cute and cutre apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
cute
5 ch
cutre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cute is [ˈkut̪e] while cutre is [ˈkut̪ɾe]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81213, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cute is recorded at frequency rank #47,692, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkut̪e]. cutre is at rank #33,521, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkut̪ɾe].

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 81213, this pair ranks #10,672 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cute vs cutre

Shared letters: cetu. Private to "cute": -. Private to "cutre": r.

"cute" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cutre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cuteccute · ctue · cuet · cutte · ucte
  • cutreccutre · cture · curte · cuter · cutrre · cuttre · uctre

Frequency comparison

cute#47,692
cutre#33,521

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cute" and "cutre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cute" is a noun and "cutre" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cute" or "cutre"?
"cutre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,521 in our Spanish list, against #47,692 for "cute". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cute vs cutre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “cute”; for an adjective, it's “cutre”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cute” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list