cagadovscalzadoTell them apart

Quick tell: cagado is a adjective, calzado is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cagado” is an adjective and “calzado” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,296
“cagado” frequency rank
#10,992
“calzado” frequency rank
26288
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cagado calzado
Definition Que contiene excrementos. Prenda de vestir que se usa para cubrir y proteger el pie.

Where the eye mixes cagado and calzado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cagado runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against calzado's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
cagado
7 ch
calzado

Why the eye confuses cagado with calzado

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cagado is [kaˈɣ̞að̞o] while calzado is [kalˈsað̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26288, 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]. calzado is at rank #10,992, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kalˈsað̞o].

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 26288, this pair ranks #232,357 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cagado vs calzado

Shared letters: acdo. Private to "cagado": g. Private to "calzado": lz.

"cagado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "calzado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cagadoacgado · caagdo · cagaddo · cagaod · cagdao · caggado · ccagado · cgaado
  • calzadoaclzado · calazdo · callzado · calzaddo · calzaod · calzdao · calzzado · cazlado

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cagado" for "calzado" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cagado" is an adjective and "calzado" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "cagado" vs "calzado" - which ranks higher?
"calzado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,992 in our Spanish list, against #15,296 for "cagado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "cagado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "calzado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #232,357 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cagado" and "calzado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cagado 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 #232,357 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