the basic monetary unit of Brazil from 1986 to 1990

Pronunciation:
cru-ZAH-doh

In a sentence:
When Brian asked to change his American dollars into cruzados during a business trip to Brazil in 1991, the bank teller and all of her colleagues began to laugh and point, and Brian exited the premises in shame.

In a different sentence:
When he saw that the vending machine only accepted cruzados, Kyle realized that he was either in a dream, or in Brazil 10 years ago.