Which to use
“carreira” and “carrera” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,137
- “carreira” frequency rank
- #49,341
- “carrera” frequency rank
- 50478
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | carreira | carrera |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | caminho estreito | rua |
Where the eye mixes carreira and carrera
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. carreira runs 8 letters (CVCCVVCV) against carrera's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between carreira and carrera
A purely visual mix-up. carreira (/kɐ.ˈRɐj.ɾɐ/) and carrera (/kaˈreɾa/) 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 50478, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
carreira is recorded at frequency rank #1,137, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈRɐj.ɾɐ/. carrera is at rank #49,341, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kaˈreɾa/.
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 50478, this pair ranks #14,480 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of carreira vs carrera
Shared letters: acer. Private to "carreira": i. Private to "carrera": -.
"carreira" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV · "carrera" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "carreira" and "carrera" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "carreira" or "carrera"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "carreira" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "carrera" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #14,480 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "carreira" and "carrera" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "carreiro vs carrera". 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 #14,480 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.