Which to use
“cercar” and “coçar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,230
- “cercar” frequency rank
- #23,956
- “coçar” frequency rank
- 49186
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cercar | coçar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pôr cerco a, sitiar | esfregar com as unhas, ou com outro objeto, qualquer parte do corpo onde se sente comichão |
Where the eye mixes cercar and coçar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cercar runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against coçar's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between cercar and coçar
A purely visual mix-up. cercar (/sɨɾ.ˈkaɾ/) and coçar (/ku.ˈsaɾ/) 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 49186, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cercar is recorded at frequency rank #25,230, classified as averb, pronounced /sɨɾ.ˈkaɾ/. coçar is at rank #23,956, tagged as averb, pronounced /ku.ˈsaɾ/.
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 49186, this pair ranks #15,883 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cercar vs coçar
Shared letters: acr. Private to "cercar": e. Private to "coçar": oç.
"cercar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "coçar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cercar ← ccercar · cecrar · ceracr · cercarr · cerccar · cercra · cerrcar · crecar
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cercar" and "coçar" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cercar" or "coçar"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cercar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coçar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #15,883 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cercar" and "coçar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cercar vs cerda". 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 #15,883 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.