cabosvscosConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#14,535
“cabos” frequency rank
#23,736
“cos” frequency rank
38271
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cabos cos
Definition En las personas, ojos, cejas y pelo. Cuerpo.

Where the eye mixes cabos and cos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
cabos
3 ch
cos

Look-alike desk: cabos vs cos

A purely visual mix-up. cabos ([ˈkaβ̞os]) and cos ([ˈkos]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38271, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cabos is recorded at frequency rank #14,535, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaβ̞os]. cos is at rank #23,736, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkos].

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 38271, this pair ranks #170,925 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cabos vs cos

Shared letters: cos. Private to "cabos": ab. Private to "cos": -.

"cabos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "cos" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cabosacbos · cabbos · caboss · cabso · caobs · cavos · cbaos · ccabos

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cabos" for "cos" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkaβ̞os] versus [ˈkos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cabos" or "cos"?
"cabos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,535 in our Spanish list, against #23,736 for "cos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cabos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #170,925 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cabos" and "cos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cos 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 #170,925 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