Which to use
“crível” and “cruel” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,733
- “crível” frequency rank
- #5,617
- “cruel” frequency rank
- 43350
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crível | cruel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que se pode crer, passível de se crer; acreditável | que tem prazer em fazer mal |
Where the eye mixes crível and cruel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. crível runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against cruel's 5 (CCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: crível vs cruel
A purely visual mix-up. crível (/ˈkɾi.vɛɫ/) and cruel (/kɾu.ˈɛɫ/) 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 43350, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crível is recorded at frequency rank #37,733, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈkɾi.vɛɫ/. 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 43350, this pair ranks #22,292 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of crível vs cruel
Shared letters: celr. Private to "crível": ví. Private to "cruel": u.
"crível" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "cruel" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cruel ← ccruel · creul · crruel · cruell · crule · curel · rcuel
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "crível" for "cruel" ever safe?
Frequency check: "crível" vs "cruel" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "crível" 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 #22,292 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crível" and "cruel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cível vs crível". 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 #22,292 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.