cabvscacoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“cab” and “caco” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#33,464
“cab” frequency rank
#45,790
“caco” frequency rank
79254
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cab caco
Definition Carruaje ligero de dos o cuatro caballos, con una capota plegable que se recogía a modo de fuelle detrás del asiento trasero. Persona que tiene por costumbre u oficio el apropiarse de cosas que no le pertenecen.

Where the eye mixes cab and caco

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. cab runs 3 letters (CVC) against caco's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
cab
4 ch
caco

Look-alike desk: cab vs caco

A purely visual mix-up. cab ([ˈkaβ̞]) and caco ([ˈkako]) 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 79254, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cab is recorded at frequency rank #33,464, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaβ̞]. caco is at rank #45,790, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkako].

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 79254, this pair ranks #13,268 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cab vs caco

Shared letters: ac. Private to "cab": b. Private to "caco": o.

"cab" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "caco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caco ← acco · cacco · caoc · ccaco · ccao

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cab" for "caco" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkaβ̞] versus [ˈkako]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cab" or "caco"?
"cab" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,464 in our Spanish list, against #45,790 for "caco". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "cab" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "caco" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #13,268 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cab" and "caco" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caco vs cuc". 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 #13,268 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list