caladavscriadaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,304
“calada” frequency rank
#1,566
“criada” frequency rank
10870
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature calada criada
Definition ato ou efeito de calar-se feminino de criado.

Where the eye mixes calada and criada

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. calada (CVCVCV) and criada (CCVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
calada
6 ch
criada

Visual trap between calada and criada

A purely visual mix-up. calada (/kɐ.ˈla.dɐ/) and criada (/kɾi.ˈa.dɐ/) 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 10870, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

calada is recorded at frequency rank #9,304, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈla.dɐ/. criada is at rank #1,566, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɾi.ˈa.dɐ/.

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 10870, this pair ranks #62,107 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of calada vs criada

Shared letters: acd. Private to "calada": l. Private to "criada": ir.

"calada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "criada" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • calada ← aclada · caalda · calaad · caladda · caldaa · callada · ccalada · claada
  • criada ← ccriada · cirada · craida · criaad · criadda · cridaa · crriada · rciada

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "calada" and "criada" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kɐ.ˈla.dɐ/ versus /kɾi.ˈa.dɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "calada" vs "criada" - which ranks higher?
"criada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,566 in our Portuguese list, against #9,304 for "calada". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "calada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "criada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #62,107 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "calada" and "criada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calada vs cassada". 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 #62,107 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