Which to use
“cabelo” and “cadela” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #930
- “cabelo” frequency rank
- #10,142
- “cadela” frequency rank
- 11072
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cabelo | cadela |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pelos que crescem na cabeça do ser humano | animal fêmea da espécie Canis lupus familiaris, cujo macho é o cão |
Where the eye mixes cabelo and cadela
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cabelo with cadela
A purely visual mix-up. cabelo (/kɐ.ˈbe.lu/) and cadela (/kɐ.ˈdɛ.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 11072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cabelo is recorded at frequency rank #930, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈbe.lu/. cadela is at rank #10,142, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈdɛ.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 11072, this pair ranks #61,861 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cabelo vs cadela
Shared letters: acel. Private to "cabelo": bo. Private to "cadela": d.
"cabelo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "cadela" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cabelo" and "cadela" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cabelo" or "cadela" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cabelo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cadela" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #61,861 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cabelo" and "cadela" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cadela vs capeta". 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 #61,861 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.