Which to use
“cautela” is a noun and “cautelar” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,408
- “cautela” frequency rank
- #22,246
- “cautelar” frequency rank
- 33654
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cautela | cautelar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | cuidado para evitar um mal | relativo a cautela |
Letter map: cautela vs cautelar
Shared letters muted; letters that set cautela and cautelar apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. cautela runs 7 letters (CVVCVCV) against cautelar's 8 (CVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Role in the sentence - cautela and cautelar
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cautela is anoun and cautelaranadjective. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “cautela” sits inside “cautelar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33654, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cautela is recorded at frequency rank #11,408, classified as anoun, pronounced /kaw.ˈtɛ.lɐ/. cautelar is at rank #22,246, tagged as anadj.
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 33654, this pair ranks #33,792 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cautela vs cautelar
Shared letters: aceltu. Private to "cautela": -. Private to "cautelar": r.
"cautela" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV · "cautelar" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cautela" and "cautelar" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cautela" or "cautelar"?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "cautela" and "cautelar".
- Full dictionary entry for "cautela" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cautelar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #33,792 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cautela" and "cautelar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "castelão vs cautelar". 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 #33,792 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.