cincovscucoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“cinco” and “cuco” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#373
“cinco” frequency rank
#30,486
“cuco” frequency rank
30859
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cinco cuco
Definition número equivalente a quatro mais um; cardinalidade de um conjunto que contenha cinco elementos distintos; representado pelo símbolo 5 (algarismos arábicos) ou V (algarismos romanos) que tira partido de algo ou de uma pessoa, que é aproveitado, egoísta

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cinco and cuco apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
cinco
4 ch
cuco

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cinco (/ˈsĩ.ku/) and cuco (/'ku.kʊ/) 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 30859, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cinco is recorded at frequency rank #373, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈsĩ.ku/. cuco is at rank #30,486, tagged as anadj, pronounced /'ku.kʊ/.

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 30859, this pair ranks #37,390 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cinco vs cuco

Shared letters: co. Private to "cinco": in. Private to "cuco": u.

"cinco" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "cuco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cincoccinco · cicno · cincco · cinnco · cinoc · cnico · icnco
  • cucoccuco · ccuo · cucco · cuoc · ucco

Frequency comparison

cinco#373
cuco#30,486

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cinco" and "cuco" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈsĩ.ku/ versus /'ku.kʊ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cinco" or "cuco"?
"cinco" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #373 in our Portuguese list, against #30,486 for "cuco". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering cinco vs cuco

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cinco” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list