Which to use
“costas” and “custa” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,739
- “costas” frequency rank
- #2,470
- “custa” frequency rank
- 4209
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | costas | custa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | lado posterior do tórax humano | despesa feita com alguma coisa |
Where the eye mixes costas and custa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses costas with custa
A purely visual mix-up. costas (/ˈkɔʃtɜʃ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4209, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
costas is recorded at frequency rank #1,739, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɔʃtɜʃ/. 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 4209, this pair ranks #70,780 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of costas vs custa
Shared letters: acst. Private to "costas": o. Private to "custa": u.
"costas" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "custa" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "costas" and "custa" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "costas" or "custa"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "costas" and "custa" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "costas" 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 #70,780 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "costas" 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 #70,780 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.