Which to use
“carreira” and “carteiro” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,137
- “carreira” frequency rank
- #27,777
- “carteiro” frequency rank
- 28914
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | carreira | carteiro |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | caminho estreito | funcionário do correio que distribui cartas |
Where the eye mixes carreira and carteiro
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. carreira and carteiro follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses carreira with carteiro
A purely visual mix-up. carreira (/kɐ.ˈRɐj.ɾɐ/) and carteiro (/kɐɾ.ˈtɐj.ɾu/) 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 28914, 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/. carteiro is at rank #27,777, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐɾ.ˈtɐj.ɾu/.
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 28914, this pair ranks #39,845 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of carreira vs carteiro
Shared letters: aceir. Private to "carreira": -. Private to "carteiro": ot.
"carreira" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV · "carteiro" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "carreira" and "carteiro" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "carreira" or "carteiro"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "carreira" and "carteiro" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "carreira" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "carteiro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #39,845 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "carreira" and "carteiro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "carreiro vs carteiro". 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 #39,845 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.