caráctervscharacterConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#8,015
“carácter” frequency rank
#33,325
“character” frequency rank
41340
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature carácter character
Definition o mesmo que caráter caractere

Where the eye mixes carácter and character

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. carácter runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against character's 9 (CCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
carácter
9 ch
character

Look-alike desk: carácter vs character

A purely visual mix-up. carácter (/kaˈrak.tɛr/) and character (/ˈkʰæɹəktɚ/, /ˈkʰɛɹəktɚ/) 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 41340, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

carácter is recorded at frequency rank #8,015, classified as anoun, pronounced /kaˈrak.tɛr/. character is at rank #33,325, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkʰæɹəktɚ/, /ˈkʰɛɹəktɚ/.

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 41340, this pair ranks #24,572 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of carácter vs character

Shared letters: acert. Private to "carácter": á. Private to "character": h.

"carácter" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "character" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • character ← cahracter · ccharacter · chaarcter · characcter · characetr · characterr · charactre · charactter

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "carácter" for "character" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/kaˈrak.tɛr/ versus /ˈkʰæɹəktɚ/, /ˈkʰɛɹəktɚ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "carácter" vs "character" - which ranks higher?
"carácter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,015 in our Portuguese list, against #33,325 for "character". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "carácter" and "character" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "carácter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "character" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #24,572 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "carácter" and "character" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caráter vs character". 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 #24,572 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