coxavscubaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#12,410
“coxa” frequency rank
#3,549
“cuba” frequency rank
15959
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coxa cuba
Definition parte da perna, desde as virilhas até o joelho recipiente para lavar loiça. Compartimento de um lava-loiça.

Where the eye mixes coxa and cuba

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
coxa
4 ch
cuba

Why the eye confuses coxa with cuba

A purely visual mix-up. coxa (/ˈko.ʃɐ/) and cuba (/ˈku.bɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15959, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coxa is recorded at frequency rank #12,410, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈko.ʃɐ/. cuba is at rank #3,549, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈku.bɐ/.

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 15959, this pair ranks #55,740 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of coxa vs cuba

Shared letters: ac. Private to "coxa": ox. Private to "cuba": bu.

"coxa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cuba" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coxaccoxa · coax · coxxa · cxoa · ocxa
  • cubacbua · ccuba · cuab · cubba · ucba

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "coxa" for "cuba" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈko.ʃɐ/ versus /ˈku.bɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "coxa" or "cuba"?
"cuba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,549 in our Portuguese list, against #12,410 for "coxa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "coxa" and "cuba" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "coxa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cuba" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #55,740 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "coxa" and "cuba" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "conca vs coxa". 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 #55,740 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