Which to use
“cru” and “cruel” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,555
- “cru” frequency rank
- #5,617
- “cruel” frequency rank
- 20172
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cru | cruel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que não foi cozido ou não foi cozido o suficiente | que tem prazer em fazer mal |
Where the eye mixes cru and cruel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cru runs 3 letters (CCV) against cruel's 5 (CCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between cru and cruel
A purely visual mix-up. cru (/ˈkɾu/) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “cru” sits inside “cruel”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20172, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cru is recorded at frequency rank #14,555, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈkɾu/. 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 20172, this pair ranks #50,417 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cru vs cruel
Shared letters: cru. Private to "cru": -. Private to "cruel": el.
"cru" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "cruel" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cruel ← ccruel · creul · crruel · cruell · crule · curel · rcuel
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cru" for "cruel" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cru" vs "cruel" - which ranks higher?
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 "cru" 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 #50,417 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cru" and "cruel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chau vs cru". 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 #50,417 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.