Which to use
“oco” and “ouro” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,951
- “oco” frequency rank
- #876
- “ouro” frequency rank
- 28827
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | oco | ouro |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que não tem miolo | da cor de ouro |
Where the eye mixes oco and ouro
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses oco with ouro
A purely visual mix-up. oco (/ˈo.ku/) and ouro (/ˈow.ɾu/, /ˈo.ɾu/) 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 28827, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
oco is recorded at frequency rank #27,951, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈo.ku/. ouro is at rank #876, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈow.ɾu/, /ˈo.ɾu/.
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 28827, this pair ranks #39,944 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of oco vs ouro
Shared letters: o. Private to "oco": c. Private to "ouro": ru.
"oco" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "ouro" · 4 letters · shape VVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- ouro ← oruo · ouor · ourro · uoro
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "oco" for "ouro" ever safe?
Which is more common, "oco" or "ouro"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "oco" and "ouro" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "oco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ouro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #39,944 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "oco" and "ouro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oco vs oni". 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 #39,944 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.