Which to use
“careca” and “cereja” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,848
- “careca” frequency rank
- #15,528
- “cereja” frequency rank
- 26376
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | careca | cereja |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | falta de cabelo na cabeça; calvo | que possua cor avermelhada semelhante à cereja |
Where the eye mixes careca and cereja
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. careca and cereja follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses careca with cereja
A purely visual mix-up. careca (/kɐ.ˈɾɛ.kɐ/) and cereja (/sɨ.ˈɾɐj.ʒɐ/) 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 26376, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
careca is recorded at frequency rank #10,848, classified as anadj, pronounced /kɐ.ˈɾɛ.kɐ/. cereja is at rank #15,528, tagged as anadj, pronounced /sɨ.ˈɾɐj.ʒɐ/.
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 26376, this pair ranks #42,791 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of careca vs cereja
Shared letters: acer. Private to "careca": -. Private to "cereja": j.
"careca" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "cereja" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "careca" for "cereja" ever safe?
Which is more common, "careca" or "cereja"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "careca" and "cereja" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "careca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cereja" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #42,791 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "careca" and "cereja" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cerda vs cereja". 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 #42,791 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.