Which to use
“cabrão” and “capão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,163
- “cabrão” frequency rank
- #19,358
- “capão” frequency rank
- 57521
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cabrão | capão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o macho da cabra; bode | galo (ou cavalo) castrado para que não se reproduza e brigue com outros machos |
Where the eye mixes cabrão and capão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cabrão runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against capão's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between cabrão and capão
A purely visual mix-up. cabrão (/kɐ.ˈbɾɐ̃w̃/) and capão (/kɐ.ˈpɐ̃w̃/) 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 57521, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cabrão is recorded at frequency rank #38,163, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈbɾɐ̃w̃/. capão is at rank #19,358, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈpɐ̃w̃/.
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 57521, this pair ranks #9,294 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cabrão vs capão
Shared letters: acoã. Private to "cabrão": br. Private to "capão": p.
"cabrão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "capão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cabrão" and "capão" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "cabrão" vs "capão" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cabrão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "capão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #9,294 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cabrão" and "capão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cabrão vs caução". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #9,294 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.