cadeiravscapoeiraWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“cadeira” and “capoeira” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,820
“cadeira” frequency rank
#15,523
“capoeira” frequency rank
18343
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cadeira capoeira
Definition objeto do mobiliário sobre o qual se assenta, normalmente composta por quatro pés, um assento e um encosto luta esportiva desenvolvida no Brasil, originariamente praticada pelos negros escravos nas senzalas da Bahia, Pernambuco e Rio de Janeiro

Where the eye mixes cadeira and capoeira

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. cadeira runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against capoeira's 8 (CVCVVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
cadeira
8 ch
capoeira

Look-alike desk: cadeira vs capoeira

A purely visual mix-up. cadeira (/kɐ.ˈdɐj.ɾɐ/) and capoeira (/kɐ.ˈpwɐj.ɾɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18343, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cadeira is recorded at frequency rank #2,820, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈdɐj.ɾɐ/. capoeira is at rank #15,523, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈpwɐj.ɾɐ/.

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 18343, this pair ranks #52,663 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cadeira vs capoeira

Shared letters: aceir. Private to "cadeira": d. Private to "capoeira": op.

"cadeira" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "capoeira" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cadeiraacdeira · caddeira · cadeiar · cadeirra · caderia · cadiera · caedira · ccadeira
  • capoeiraacpoeira · caopeira · capeoira · capoeiar · capoeirra · capoeria · capoiera · cappoeira

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cadeira" for "capoeira" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/kɐ.ˈdɐj.ɾɐ/ versus /kɐ.ˈpwɐj.ɾɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cadeira" or "capoeira" show up more?
"cadeira" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,820 in our Portuguese list, against #15,523 for "capoeira". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "cadeira" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "capoeira" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #52,663 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cadeira" and "capoeira" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cadeira vs clareira". 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 #52,663 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list