Which to use
“cacao” and “cache” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,527
- “cacao” frequency rank
- #2,409
- “cache” frequency rank
- 15936
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cacao | cache |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Graine du cacaoyer qui sert à la fabrication du chocolat. | Lieu propre à cacher ou à se cacher. |
Where the eye mixes cacao and cache
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cacao with cache
A purely visual mix-up. cacao (\ka.ka.o\) and cache (\kaʃ\) 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 15936, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cacao is recorded at frequency rank #13,527, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.ka.o\. cache is at rank #2,409, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kaʃ\.
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 15936, this pair ranks #390,173 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cacao vs cache
Shared letters: ac. Private to "cacao": o. Private to "cache": eh.
"cacao" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "cache" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cacao" for "cache" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cacao" vs "cache" - which ranks higher?
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 "cacao" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cache" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #390,173 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cacao" and "cache" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cacao vs canto". 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 #390,173 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.