Which to use
“costa” and “custa” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #885
- “costa” frequency rank
- #2,470
- “custa” frequency rank
- 3355
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | costa | custa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | interface entre o mar e a terra | despesa feita com alguma coisa |
Where the eye mixes costa and custa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between costa and custa
A purely visual mix-up. costa (/ˈkɔʃ.tɐ/) and custa (/ˈkuʃ.tɐ/) 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 a single letter - o in “costa” becomes u in “custa”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3355, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
costa is recorded at frequency rank #885, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɔʃ.tɐ/. custa is at rank #2,470, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkuʃ.tɐ/.
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 3355, this pair ranks #71,815 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of costa vs custa
Shared letters: acst. Private to "costa": o. Private to "custa": u.
"costa" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "custa" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "costa" for "custa" ever safe?
Which is more common, "costa" or "custa"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "costa" and "custa" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "costa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "custa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #71,815 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "costa" and "custa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "copta vs custa". 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 #71,815 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.