Which to use
“caco” and “celo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,790
- “caco” frequency rank
- #15,801
- “celo” frequency rank
- 61591
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caco | celo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Persona que tiene por costumbre u oficio el apropiarse de cosas que no le pertenecen. | Empeño y esmero que uno pone al realizar una tarea o deber. |
Where the eye mixes caco and celo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. caco and celo 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 celo
A purely visual mix-up. caco ([ˈkako]) and celo ([ˈselo]) 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 61591, 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]. celo is at rank #15,801, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈselo].
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 61591, this pair ranks #54,926 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of caco vs celo
Shared letters: co. Private to "caco": a. Private to "celo": el.
"caco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "celo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "caco" for "celo" ever safe?
Frequency check: "caco" vs "celo" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "caco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "celo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #54,926 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caco" and "celo" 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 #54,926 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.