cobravscomaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,043
“cobra” frequency rank
#5,703
“coma” frequency rank
11746
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cobra coma
Definition Nombre común de un grupo de serpientes venenosas de la familia de los elápidos (Elapidae), conocidas por su aspecto amenazante y su mordedura. En general, se alimentan de roedores y aves a las que matan inyectándoles una neurotoxina a través de los colmillos. Signo de puntuación que se emplea en gramática para dividir ciertas partes de la oración (las aposiciones, las cláusulas adjetivas, los elementos de las listas y las cláusulas desplazadas por hipérbaton), y en matemática para separar los decimales.

Where the eye mixes cobra and coma

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
cobra
4 ch
coma

Visual trap between cobra and coma

A purely visual mix-up. cobra ([ˈkoβ̞ɾa]) and coma ([ˈkoma]) 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 11746, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cobra is recorded at frequency rank #6,043, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkoβ̞ɾa]. coma is at rank #5,703, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkoma].

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 11746, this pair ranks #294,024 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cobra vs coma

Shared letters: aco. Private to "cobra": br. Private to "coma": m.

"cobra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "coma" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cobracbora · ccobra · cobar · cobbra · corba · covra · ocbra
  • comaccoma · cmoa · coam · comma · ocma

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cobra" and "coma" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkoβ̞ɾa] versus [ˈkoma]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cobra" or "coma"?
"coma" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,703 in our Spanish list, against #6,043 for "cobra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "cobra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "coma" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #294,024 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cobra" and "coma" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ceba vs cobra". 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 #294,024 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