citarvscriarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,831
“citar” frequency rank
#686
“criar” frequency rank
6517
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature citar criar
Definition provocar (o toiro) para realizar qualquer sorte tauromáquica alimentar, sustentar, amamentar

Where the eye mixes citar and criar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
citar
5 ch
criar

Visual trap between citar and criar

A purely visual mix-up. citar (/si.ˈtaɾ/) and criar (/kɾi.ˈaɾ/) 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 6517, 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/. criar is at rank #686, tagged as averb, pronounced /kɾi.ˈaɾ/.

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 6517, this pair ranks #67,900 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of citar vs criar

Shared letters: acir. Private to "citar": t. Private to "criar": -.

"citar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "criar" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • citarccitar · ciatr · citarr · citra · cittar · ctiar · ictar
  • criarccriar · cirar · crair · criarr · crira · crriar · rciar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "citar" and "criar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/si.ˈtaɾ/ versus /kɾi.ˈaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "citar" vs "criar" - which ranks higher?
"criar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #686 in our Portuguese list, against #5,831 for "citar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "citar" and "criar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "citar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "criar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #67,900 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "citar" and "criar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ciao vs citar". 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 #67,900 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