docavsdoçuraWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#23,985
“doca” frequency rank
#17,772
“doçura” frequency rank
41757
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature doca doçura
Definition parte abrigada de um porto, dispondo de cais acostável, onde se podem recolher embarcações para fugir do mau tempo ou para carregar e descarregar mercadorias qualidade do que é doce

Where the eye mixes doca and doçura

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. doca runs 4 letters (CVCV) against doçura's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
doca
6 ch
doçura

Visual trap between doca and doçura

A purely visual mix-up. doca (/ˈdɔ.kɐ/) and doçura (/du.ˈsu.ɾɐ/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

doca is recorded at frequency rank #23,985, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɔ.kɐ/. doçura is at rank #17,772, tagged as anoun, pronounced /du.ˈsu.ɾɐ/.

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 41757, this pair ranks #24,122 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of doca vs doçura

Shared letters: ado. Private to "doca": c. Private to "doçura": ruç.

"doca" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "doçura" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • doca ← dcoa · ddoca · doac · docca · odca

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "doca" for "doçura" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈdɔ.kɐ/ versus /du.ˈsu.ɾɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "doca" or "doçura"?
"doçura" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,772 in our Portuguese list, against #23,985 for "doca". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "doca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "doçura" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #24,122 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "doca" and "doçura" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "doca vs doula". 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 #24,122 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