cravarvscruzarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#41,924
“cravar” frequency rank
#8,174
“cruzar” frequency rank
50098
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cravar cruzar
Definition enterrar dispor em cruz

Where the eye mixes cravar and cruzar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cravar and cruzar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
cravar
6 ch
cruzar

Visual trap between cravar and cruzar

A purely visual mix-up. cravar (/kɾɐ.ˈvaɾ/) and cruzar (/kɾu.ˈzaɾ/) 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 50098, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cravar is recorded at frequency rank #41,924, classified as averb, pronounced /kɾɐ.ˈvaɾ/. cruzar is at rank #8,174, tagged as averb, pronounced /kɾu.ˈzaɾ/.

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 50098, this pair ranks #14,884 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cravar vs cruzar

Shared letters: acr. Private to "cravar": v. Private to "cruzar": uz.

"cravar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "cruzar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cravar ← carvar · ccravar · craavr · cravarr · cravra · cravvar · crravar · crvaar
  • cruzar ← ccruzar · crruzar · cruazr · cruzarr · cruzra · cruzzar · crzuar · curzar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cravar" for "cruzar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/kɾɐ.ˈvaɾ/ versus /kɾu.ˈzaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cravar" vs "cruzar" - which ranks higher?
"cruzar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,174 in our Portuguese list, against #41,924 for "cravar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cravar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cruzar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #14,884 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cravar" and "cruzar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clamar vs cravar". 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 #14,884 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