Which to use
“cunha” is a noun and “cunhado” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,001
- “cunha” frequency rank
- #8,596
- “cunhado” frequency rank
- 11597
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cunha | cunhado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | peça de metal ou madeira dura, em forma de prisma agudo em um dos lados, e que se insere no vértice de um corte para melhor fender algum material, bem como para calçar, nivelar, ajustar um peça qualquer | produzido por cunha |
Where the eye mixes cunha and cunhado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cunha runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against cunhado's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses cunha with cunhado
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cunha is /ˈku.ɲɐ/ while cunhado is /ku.ˈɲa.du/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “cunha” sits inside “cunhado”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11597, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cunha is recorded at frequency rank #3,001, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈku.ɲɐ/. cunhado is at rank #8,596, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ku.ˈɲa.du/.
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 11597, this pair ranks #61,213 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cunha vs cunhado
Shared letters: achnu. Private to "cunha": -. Private to "cunhado": do.
"cunha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "cunhado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cunha" for "cunhado" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cunha" vs "cunhado" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cunha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cunhado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #61,213 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cunha" and "cunhado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cânhamo vs cunhado". 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 #61,213 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.