cavidadevscidadeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#19,366
“cavidade” frequency rank
#124
“cidade” frequency rank
19490
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cavidade cidade
Definition espaço cavado de um corpo sólido aglomeração humana localizada numa área geográfica circunscrita e que tem numerosas casas, próximas entre si, destinadas à moradia e/ou a atividades culturais, mercantis, industriais, financeiras e a outras não relacionadas com a exploração direta do solo; urbe

Where the eye mixes cavidade and cidade

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
cavidade
6 ch
cidade

Why the eye confuses cavidade with cidade

A purely visual mix-up. cavidade (/kɐ.vi.ˈda.dɨ/) and cidade (/si.ˈda.dɨ/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19490, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cavidade is recorded at frequency rank #19,366, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.vi.ˈda.dɨ/. cidade is at rank #124, tagged as anoun, pronounced /si.ˈda.dɨ/.

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 19490, this pair ranks #51,210 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cavidade vs cidade

Shared letters: acdei. Private to "cavidade": v. Private to "cidade": -.

"cavidade" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "cidade" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cavidadeacvidade · caivdade · cavdiade · caviadde · cavidadde · cavidaed · caviddade · caviddae
  • cidadeccidade · cdiade · ciadde · cidadde · cidaed · ciddade · ciddae · icdade

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cavidade" and "cidade" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/kɐ.vi.ˈda.dɨ/ versus /si.ˈda.dɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cavidade" or "cidade"?
"cidade" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #124 in our Portuguese list, against #19,366 for "cavidade". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cavidade" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cidade" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #51,210 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cavidade" and "cidade" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cavidade vs claridade". 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 #51,210 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