Which to use
“cansado” and “cunhado” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,709
- “cansado” frequency rank
- #8,596
- “cunhado” frequency rank
- 11305
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cansado | cunhado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fatigado | produzido por cunha |
Where the eye mixes cansado and cunhado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cansado and cunhado follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses cansado with cunhado
A purely visual mix-up. cansado (/kɐ̃.ˈsa.du/) and cunhado (/ku.ˈɲa.du/) 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 11305, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cansado is recorded at frequency rank #2,709, classified as anadj, pronounced /kɐ̃.ˈsa.du/. cunhado is at rank #8,596, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ku.ˈɲa.du/.
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 11305, this pair ranks #61,579 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cansado vs cunhado
Shared letters: acdno. Private to "cansado": s. Private to "cunhado": hu.
"cansado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "cunhado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cansado" for "cunhado" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cansado" vs "cunhado" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cansado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cunhado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #61,579 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cansado" and "cunhado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cânhamo vs cunhado". 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 #61,579 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.