Which to use
“cordel” is a noun and “cruel” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,668
- “cordel” frequency rank
- #5,617
- “cruel” frequency rank
- 25285
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cordel | cruel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | corda bastante fina e flexível; barbante, cordão, guita | que tem prazer em fazer mal |
Where the eye mixes cordel and cruel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cordel runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against cruel's 5 (CCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between cordel and cruel
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cordel is /kuɾ.ˈdɛɫ/ while cruel is /kɾu.ˈɛɫ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25285, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cordel is recorded at frequency rank #19,668, classified as anoun, pronounced /kuɾ.ˈdɛɫ/. cruel is at rank #5,617, tagged as anadj, pronounced /kɾu.ˈɛɫ/.
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 25285, this pair ranks #44,062 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cordel vs cruel
Shared letters: celr. Private to "cordel": do. Private to "cruel": u.
"cordel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "cruel" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cordel" and "cruel" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cordel" or "cruel"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cordel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cruel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #44,062 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cordel" and "cruel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "codex vs cordel". 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 #44,062 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.