Which to use
“cabala” and “cebola” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,212
- “cabala” frequency rank
- #10,144
- “cebola” frequency rank
- 47356
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cabala | cebola |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | interpretação mística da Bíblia entre os judeus | planta bulbosa hortense muito utilizada na culinária |
Where the eye mixes cabala and cebola
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cabala and cebola follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between cabala and cebola
A purely visual mix-up. cabala (/kɐ.ˈba.lɐ/) and cebola (/sɨ.ˈbo.lɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47356, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cabala is recorded at frequency rank #37,212, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈba.lɐ/. cebola is at rank #10,144, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sɨ.ˈbo.lɐ/.
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 47356, this pair ranks #17,901 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cabala vs cebola
Shared letters: abcl. Private to "cabala": -. Private to "cebola": eo.
"cabala" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "cebola" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cabala" for "cebola" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cabala" or "cebola"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cabala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cebola" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #17,901 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cabala" and "cebola" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cabala vs cabina". 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 #17,901 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.