Which to use
“caco” and “cate” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,790
- “caco” frequency rank
- #38,559
- “cate” frequency rank
- 84349
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caco | cate |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Persona que tiene por costumbre u oficio el apropiarse de cosas que no le pertenecen. | Suspenso de un test, examen o asignatura. |
Where the eye mixes caco and cate
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. caco and cate follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses caco with cate
A purely visual mix-up. caco ([ˈkako]) and cate ([ˈkat̪e]) 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 84349, 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]. cate is at rank #38,559, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkat̪e].
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 84349, this pair ranks #7,141 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of caco vs cate
Shared letters: ac. Private to "caco": o. Private to "cate": et.
"caco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "caco" and "cate" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "caco" or "cate" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "caco" and "cate" 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 "cate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #7,141 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caco" and "cate" 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 #7,141 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.