cacovscapTell them apart

Which to use

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

#45,790
“caco” frequency rank
#7,113
“cap” frequency rank
52903
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes caco and cap

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

4 ch
caco
3 ch
cap

Why the eye confuses caco with cap

A purely visual mix-up. caco ([ˈkako]) and cap ([ˈkap]) 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 52903, 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]. cap is at rank #7,113, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkap].

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 52903, this pair ranks #90,479 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caco vs cap

Shared letters: ac. Private to "caco": o. Private to "cap": p.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cacoacco · cacco · caoc · ccaco · ccao

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "caco" for "cap" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkako] versus [ˈkap]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "caco" or "cap"?
"cap" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,113 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

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "caco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cap" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #90,479 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caco" and "cap" 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 #90,479 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