Which to use
“cagado” is an adjective and “calado” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,296
- “cagado” frequency rank
- #17,887
- “calado” frequency rank
- 33183
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cagado | calado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que contiene excrementos. | Labor que se hace con aguja de coser o bordar en alguna tela, sacando o juntando hilos, con que se imita la randa o encaje. |
Where the eye mixes cagado and calado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cagado and calado follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between cagado and calado
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cagado is [kaˈɣ̞að̞o] while calado is [kaˈlað̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - g in “cagado” becomes l in “calado”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33183, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cagado is recorded at frequency rank #15,296, classified as anadj, pronounced [kaˈɣ̞að̞o]. calado is at rank #17,887, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaˈlað̞o].
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 33183, this pair ranks #198,162 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cagado vs calado
Shared letters: acdo. Private to "cagado": g. Private to "calado": l.
"cagado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "calado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cagado" and "calado" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "cagado" vs "calado" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cagado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "calado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #198,162 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cagado" and "calado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calado vs cenado". 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 #198,162 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.