Which to use
“cabrão” and “cartão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,163
- “cabrão” frequency rank
- #1,769
- “cartão” frequency rank
- 39932
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cabrão | cartão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o macho da cabra; bode | papel forte |
Where the eye mixes cabrão and cartão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cabrão and cartão follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: cabrão vs cartão
A purely visual mix-up. cabrão (/kɐ.ˈbɾɐ̃w̃/) and cartão (/kɐɾ.ˈtɐ̃w̃/) 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 39932, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cabrão is recorded at frequency rank #38,163, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈbɾɐ̃w̃/. cartão is at rank #1,769, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐɾ.ˈtɐ̃w̃/.
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 39932, this pair ranks #26,238 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cabrão vs cartão
Shared letters: acorã. Private to "cabrão": b. Private to "cartão": t.
"cabrão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "cartão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cabrão" and "cartão" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cabrão" or "cartão"?
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 "cabrão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cartão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #26,238 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cabrão" and "cartão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cabrão vs caução". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #26,238 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.