Which to use
“cancelar” is a verb and “cautelar” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,388
- “cancelar” frequency rank
- #22,246
- “cautelar” frequency rank
- 27634
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cancelar | cautelar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | desmarcar um compromisso | relativo a cautela |
Letter map: cancelar vs cautelar
Shared letters muted; letters that set cancelar and cautelar apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. cancelar (CVCCVCVC) and cautelar (CVVCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Role in the sentence - cancelar and cautelar
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cancelar is averb and cautelaranadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27634, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cancelar is recorded at frequency rank #5,388, classified as averb, pronounced /kɐ̃.seˈla(ʁ)/. cautelar is at rank #22,246, tagged as anadj.
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 27634, this pair ranks #41,317 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cancelar vs cautelar
Shared letters: acelr. Private to "cancelar": n. Private to "cautelar": tu.
"cancelar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "cautelar" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cancelar" for "cautelar" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cancelar" or "cautelar" show up more?
Useful next steps
You've compared "cancelar" and "cautelar". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "cancelar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cautelar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #41,317 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cancelar" and "cautelar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "castelão vs cautelar". 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 #41,317 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.