Which to use
“cabeção” and “cabelo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,173
- “cabeção” frequency rank
- #930
- “cabelo” frequency rank
- 35103
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cabeção | cabelo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | testarudo, teimoso | pelos que crescem na cabeça do ser humano |
Where the eye mixes cabeção and cabelo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cabeção runs 7 letters (CVCVCVV) against cabelo's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: cabeção vs cabelo
A purely visual mix-up. cabeção (/ka.be.'saŋ/, /ka.be.'θaŋ/) and cabelo (/kɐ.ˈbe.lu/) 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 35103, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cabeção is recorded at frequency rank #34,173, classified as anoun, pronounced /ka.be.'saŋ/, /ka.be.'θaŋ/. cabelo is at rank #930, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈbe.lu/.
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 35103, this pair ranks #32,001 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cabeção vs cabelo
Shared letters: abceo. Private to "cabeção": ãç. Private to "cabelo": l.
"cabeção" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "cabelo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cabelo ← acbelo · cabbelo · cabello · cabeol · cableo · caeblo · cbaelo · ccabelo
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cabeção" and "cabelo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cabeção" or "cabelo"?
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 "cabeção" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cabelo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #32,001 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cabeção" and "cabelo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cabeção vs caução". 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 #32,001 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.