carapau

/kɐ.ɾɐ.ˈpaw/

//kɐ.ɾɐ.ˈpaw// noun

The verdict

“carapau” is uncommon Portuguese (frequency #82,721 among 2,140 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#82,721
frequency rank, Portuguese
2,140
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - peixe da família dos Carangídeos

Corpus desk

Index PT-carapau · carapau · Portuguese

carapau · rank #82,721 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #82,721
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,140
  • PHOTO-FINISH capucho

Nearest frequency peer: capucho (-3 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Ranks da cauda longa perto de “carapau”

Faixa escassa: as barras invertem o rank para o raro ler-se mais curto

corpus weight

What this shows Vista da cauda longa: onde “carapau” se situa face a ranks portugueses igualmente raros.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for carapau
PropertyValue
Headwordcarapau
LanguagePortuguese
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kɐ.ɾɐ.ˈpaw/
Letters7
Frequency rank#82,721
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Cauda longa: rank de “carapau” em português

Esta escala corre do núcleo do português quotidiano (esquerda) até o rastro de formas raras (direita).carapaucai nesta cauda de raridade:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

A escala é logarítmica (cada marca ≈ 10× mais rara). Vizinhos raros da mesma faixa: “capucho” (#82,718), “carocha” (#82,725), “carrada” (#82,726). Entre 2,140 lemas com “C”, “carapau” fica em #82,721. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

carapau is uncommon Portuguese at frequency #82,721 among 2,140 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /kɐ.ɾɐ.ˈpaw/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for carapau, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct Portuguese form is carapau, spelled C-A-R-A-P-A-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    peixe da família dos Carangídeos
  2. 2
    pessoa magra

Synonyms

xurelo

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "carapau"?
"carapau" is spelled C-A-R-A-P-A-U. The IPA pronunciation is /kɐ.ɾɐ.ˈpaw/.
What does "carapau" mean?
As a noun, "carapau" means: peixe da família dos Carangídeos
How do you pronounce "carapau"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "carapau" is /kɐ.ɾɐ.ˈpaw/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "carapau" come from?
"carapau" is a Portuguese word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar Portuguese words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "carapau", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Portuguese headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list