chiquevscoqueWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: chique is a adjective, coque is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“chique” is an adjective and “coque” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,853
“chique” frequency rank
#19,388
“coque” frequency rank
30241
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chique coque
Definition elegante, bem vestido, alinhado substância dura, acinzentada, obtida quando o carvão betuminoso é aquecido em forno de coque sem entrada de ar

Where the eye mixes chique and coque

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
chique
5 ch
coque

Visual trap between chique and coque

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: chique is /ˈʃi.kɨ/ while coque is /ˈkɔkɨ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30241, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chique is recorded at frequency rank #10,853, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈʃi.kɨ/. coque is at rank #19,388, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɔkɨ/.

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 30241, this pair ranks #38,175 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chique vs coque

Shared letters: cequ. Private to "chique": hi. Private to "coque": o.

"chique" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV  ·  "coque" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chiquecchique · chhique · chiqeu · chiqque · chiuqe · chqiue · cihque · hcique
  • coqueccoque · coqeu · coqque · couqe · cqoue · ocque

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chique" and "coque" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "chique" is an adjective and "coque" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "chique" or "coque" show up more?
"chique" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,853 in our Portuguese list, against #19,388 for "coque". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "chique" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "coque" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #38,175 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chique" and "coque" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Caíque vs coque". 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 #38,175 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