Which to use
“caroço” and “circo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,999
- “caroço” frequency rank
- #5,717
- “circo” frequency rank
- 32716
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caroço | circo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | semente de um fruto | em Roma, recinto onde se realizavam jogos para entretenimento público; o conjunto dos jogos |
Where the eye mixes caroço and circo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. caroço runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against circo's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: caroço vs circo
A purely visual mix-up. caroço (/kɐ.'ɾo.su/) and circo (/ˈsirku/) 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 32716, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caroço is recorded at frequency rank #26,999, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.'ɾo.su/. circo is at rank #5,717, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsirku/.
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 32716, this pair ranks #35,004 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of caroço vs circo
Shared letters: cor. Private to "caroço": aç. Private to "circo": i.
"caroço" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "circo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- circo ← ccirco · cicro · circco · ciroc · cirrco · crico · icrco
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "caroço" and "circo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "caroço" or "circo" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "caroço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "circo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #35,004 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caroço" and "circo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caraca vs caroço". 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 #35,004 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.