Which to use
“cobra” and “coca” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,800
- “cobra” frequency rank
- #7,799
- “coca” frequency rank
- 30599
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cobra | coca |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom vernaculaire ambigu donné à cinq genres de serpents venimeux d’Afrique et d’Asie, de la famille des élapidés, et qui se distinguent par leur habitude de se dresser verticalement en position de combat et d’exhiber une coiffe caractéristique (genres: Hemachatus, Laticauda, Naja, Ophiophagus, et Pseudohaje). | Plante d’Amérique du Sud de la famille des érythroxylacées utilisée par les populations locales, comme plante médicinale et pour fabriquer la cocaïne, dont les feuilles, mâchées par les courriers, les voyageurs, les mineurs, leur permettent de rester un jour ou deux sans prendre d'aliments solides ou liquides. |
Where the eye mixes cobra and coca
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cobra with coca
A purely visual mix-up. cobra (\kɔ.bʁa\) and coca (\kɔ.ka\) 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 30599, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cobra is recorded at frequency rank #22,800, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.bʁa\. coca is at rank #7,799, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.ka\.
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 30599, this pair ranks #309,210 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cobra vs coca
Shared letters: aco. Private to "cobra": br. Private to "coca": -.
"cobra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "coca" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cobra" and "coca" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cobra" or "coca"?
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 "coca" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #309,210 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cobra" and "coca" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cobra vs coupa". 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 #309,210 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.