caracavscaroçoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: caraca is a intj, caroço is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“caraca” is an intj and “caroço” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,169
“caraca” frequency rank
#26,999
“caroço” frequency rank
65168
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caraca caroço
Definition expressa admiração, espanto; insatisfação, repreensão semente de um fruto

Where the eye mixes caraca and caroço

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
caraca
6 ch
caroço

Why the eye confuses caraca with caroço

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caraca is /ka.ˈɾa.kɐ/ while caroço is /kɐ.'ɾo.su/. 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 (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65168, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caraca is recorded at frequency rank #38,169, classified as anintj, pronounced /ka.ˈɾa.kɐ/. caroço is at rank #26,999, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.'ɾo.su/.

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 65168, this pair ranks #5,495 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of caraca vs caroço

Shared letters: acr. Private to "caraca": -. Private to "caroço": .

"caraca" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "caroço" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caracaacraca · caarca · caraac · caracca · carcaa · carraca · ccaraca · craaca

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caraca" and "caroço" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "caraca" is an intj and "caroço" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "caraca" or "caroço"?
"caroço" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,999 in our Portuguese list, against #38,169 for "caraca". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "caraca" and "caroço" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "caraca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "caroço" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #5,495 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caraca" and "caroço" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caraca vs carapaça". 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 #5,495 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list