cobravscombaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,043
“cobra” frequency rank
#48,301
“comba” frequency rank
54344
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cobra comba
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. Forma cóncava o convexa que toma la superficie de ciertos objetos o sólidos cuando se curvan o encorvan, como ocurre con la madera, algunas láminas de metal, etc.

Where the eye mixes cobra and comba

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
cobra
5 ch
comba

Look-alike desk: cobra vs comba

A purely visual mix-up. cobra ([ˈkoβ̞ɾa]) and comba ([ˈkõmba]) 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 54344, 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]. comba is at rank #48,301, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkõmba].

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 54344, this pair ranks #83,765 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cobra vs comba

Shared letters: abco. Private to "cobra": r. Private to "comba": m.

"cobra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "comba" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cobracbora · ccobra · cobar · cobbra · corba · covra · ocbra
  • combaccomba · cmoba · cobma · comab · combba · commba · comva · ocmba

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cobra" for "comba" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkoβ̞ɾa] versus [ˈkõmba]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cobra" vs "comba" - which ranks higher?
"cobra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,043 in our Spanish list, against #48,301 for "comba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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 "comba" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #83,765 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cobra" and "comba" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chimba vs comba". 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 #83,765 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