Which to use
“calmo” and “cão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,257
- “calmo” frequency rank
- #3,065
- “cão” frequency rank
- 10322
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | calmo | cão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | quente | cruel, brutal, dominador |
Where the eye mixes calmo and cão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between calmo and cão
A purely visual mix-up. calmo (/ˈkaɫ.mu/) and cão (/ˈkɐ̃ũ̯/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10322, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
calmo is recorded at frequency rank #7,257, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈkaɫ.mu/. cão is at rank #3,065, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈkɐ̃ũ̯/.
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 10322, this pair ranks #62,826 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of calmo vs cão
Shared letters: co. Private to "calmo": alm. Private to "cão": ã.
"calmo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "cão" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- calmo ← aclmo · callmo · calmmo · calom · camlo · ccalmo · clamo
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "calmo" and "cão" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "calmo" vs "cão" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "calmo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #62,826 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "calmo" and "cão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cão vs chau". 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 #62,826 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.