cacovsCaeConfusable pair

Quick tell: caco is a noun, Cae is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“caco” is a noun and “Cae” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,790
“caco” frequency rank
#2,012
“Cae” frequency rank
47802
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caco Cae
Definition Persona que tiene por costumbre u oficio el apropiarse de cosas que no le pertenecen. Apellido.

Where the eye mixes caco and Cae

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
caco
3 ch
Cae

Look-alike desk: caco vs Cae

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caco is [ˈkako] while Cae is [ˈkae]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47802, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caco is recorded at frequency rank #45,790, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkako]. Cae is at rank #2,012, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈkae].

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 47802, this pair ranks #118,013 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caco vs Cae

Shared letters: ac. Private to "caco": o. Private to "Cae": e.

"caco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Cae" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cacoacco · cacco · caoc · ccaco · ccao

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "caco" for "Cae" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "caco" is a noun and "Cae" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "caco" vs "Cae" - which ranks higher?
"Cae" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,012 in our Spanish list, against #45,790 for "caco". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "caco" and "Cae" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "caco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Cae" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #118,013 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caco" and "Cae" 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 #118,013 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