Which to use
“loco” and “long” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,910
- “loco” frequency rank
- #4,319
- “long” frequency rank
- 16229
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | loco | long |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | louco | longo, comprido |
Where the eye mixes loco and long
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between loco and long
A purely visual mix-up. loco (/ˈlo.ko/) and long (/lɔŋ/, /lɑŋ/) 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 16229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
loco is recorded at frequency rank #11,910, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈlo.ko/. long is at rank #4,319, tagged as anadj, pronounced /lɔŋ/, /lɑŋ/.
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 16229, this pair ranks #55,371 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of loco vs long
Shared letters: lo. Private to "loco": c. Private to "long": gn.
"loco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "long" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "loco" and "long" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "loco" or "long" show up more?
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 "loco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "long" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #55,371 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "loco" and "long" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loch vs loco". 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 #55,371 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.