cacovsceoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#45,790
“caco” frequency rank
#11,189
“ceo” frequency rank
56979
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caco ceo
Definition Persona que tiene por costumbre u oficio el apropiarse de cosas que no le pertenecen. (Zeus faber) Pez comestible de aguas profundas con un cuerpo comprimido lateralmente de color oliva-amarillo que tiene una gran mancha oscura ribeteada de color amarillo en su costado y grandes espinas en la aleta dorsal.

Where the eye mixes caco and ceo

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

4 ch
caco
3 ch
ceo

Look-alike desk: caco vs ceo

A purely visual mix-up. caco ([ˈkako]) and ceo ([ˈseo]) 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 56979, 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]. ceo is at rank #11,189, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈseo].

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 56979, this pair ranks #72,337 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of caco vs ceo

Shared letters: co. Private to "caco": a. Private to "ceo": e.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cacoacco · cacco · caoc · ccaco · ccao

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "caco" for "ceo" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkako] versus [ˈseo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "caco" or "ceo"?
"ceo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,189 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.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "caco" and "ceo" 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 "ceo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,337 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caco" and "ceo" 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 #72,337 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