citarvsclicarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,831
“citar” frequency rank
#10,855
“clicar” frequency rank
16686
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature citar clicar
Definition provocar (o toiro) para realizar qualquer sorte tauromáquica gerar um clique (estalido)

Where the eye mixes citar and clicar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. citar runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against clicar's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
citar
6 ch
clicar

Visual trap between citar and clicar

A purely visual mix-up. citar (/si.ˈtaɾ/) and clicar (/kli.ˈkaɾ/) 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 16686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

citar is recorded at frequency rank #5,831, classified as averb, pronounced /si.ˈtaɾ/. clicar is at rank #10,855, tagged as averb, pronounced /kli.ˈkaɾ/.

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 16686, this pair ranks #54,785 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of citar vs clicar

Shared letters: acir. Private to "citar": t. Private to "clicar": l.

"citar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "clicar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • citar ← ccitar · ciatr · citarr · citra · cittar · ctiar · ictar
  • clicar ← cclicar · cilcar · clciar · cliacr · clicarr · cliccar · clicra · cllicar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "citar" and "clicar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/si.ˈtaɾ/ versus /kli.ˈkaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "citar" vs "clicar" - which ranks higher?
"citar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,831 in our Portuguese list, against #10,855 for "clicar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "citar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "clicar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #54,785 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "citar" and "clicar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clicar vs clonar". 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 #54,785 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