Which to use
“cabeça” and “careta” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #361
- “cabeça” frequency rank
- #23,598
- “careta” frequency rank
- 23959
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cabeça | careta |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | parte do corpo humano, onde se localizam o cérebro, protegido pelo crânio, e a face, ligada ao tronco pelo pescoço | não drogado ou alcoolizado; sóbrio |
Where the eye mixes cabeça and careta
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cabeça and careta follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between cabeça and careta
A purely visual mix-up. cabeça (/kɐ.ˈbe.sɐ/) and careta (/kɐ.ˈɾe.tɐ/) 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 23959, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cabeça is recorded at frequency rank #361, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈbe.sɐ/. careta is at rank #23,598, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈɾe.tɐ/.
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 23959, this pair ranks #45,766 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cabeça vs careta
Shared letters: ace. Private to "cabeça": bç. Private to "careta": rt.
"cabeça" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "careta" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- careta ← careat · caretta · cartea · ccareta · craeta
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cabeça" and "careta" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cabeça" or "careta" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cabeça" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "careta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #45,766 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cabeça" and "careta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "careta vs carrera". 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 #45,766 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.