cacaovscacheWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,989
“cacao” frequency rank
#33,978
“cache” frequency rank
44967
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cacao cache
Definition (Theobroma cacao) Árbol de la familia de las malváceas, nativo de Sudamérica, de pequeño porte, hojas anchas y suculentas, y flores de color rosa que fructifican en bayas de gran tamaño con numerosas semillas, que reciben numerosos usos en gastronomía Robo.

Where the eye mixes cacao and cache

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cacao (CVCVV) and cache (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
cacao
5 ch
cache

Why the eye confuses cacao with cache

A purely visual mix-up. cacao ([kaˈkao]) and cache ([ˈkat͡ʃe]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cacao is recorded at frequency rank #10,989, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈkao]. cache is at rank #33,978, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkat͡ʃe].

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 44967, this pair ranks #134,070 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cacao vs cache

Shared letters: ac. Private to "cacao": o. Private to "cache": eh.

"cacao" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "cache" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cacao ← accao · caaco · caccao · cacoa · ccaao · ccacao
  • cache ← acche · cacche · caceh · cachhe · cahce · ccache · ccahe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cacao" for "cache" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈkao] versus [ˈkat͡ʃe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cacao" vs "cache" - which ranks higher?
"cacao" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,989 in our Spanish list, against #33,978 for "cache". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cacao" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cache" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #134,070 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cacao" and "cache" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cache vs catre". 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 #134,070 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