cabeçãovscabocloWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cabeção is a noun, caboclo is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cabeção” is a noun and “caboclo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,173
“cabeção” frequency rank
#19,640
“caboclo” frequency rank
53813
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cabeção caboclo
Definition testarudo, teimoso que tem a cor do cobre, acobreado

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cabeção and caboclo apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
cabeção
7 ch
caboclo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cabeção is /ka.be.'saŋ/, /ka.be.'θaŋ/ while caboclo is /kɐˈboklu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53813, 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/. caboclo is at rank #19,640, tagged as anadj, pronounced /kɐˈboklu/.

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 53813, this pair ranks #11,758 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cabeção vs caboclo

Shared letters: abco. Private to "cabeção": eãç. Private to "caboclo": l.

"cabeção" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "caboclo" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cabocloacboclo · cabboclo · cabcolo · cabocclo · cabocllo · cabocol · cabolco · caobclo

Frequency comparison

cabeção#34,173
caboclo#19,640

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cabeção" and "caboclo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cabeção" is a noun and "caboclo" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cabeção" or "caboclo"?
"caboclo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,640 in our Portuguese list, against #34,173 for "cabeção". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cabeção vs caboclo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “cabeção”; for an adjective, it's “caboclo”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cabeção” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list