Which to use
“Mafia” and “Mail” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,642
- “Mafia” frequency rank
- #1,814
- “Mail” frequency rank
- 9456
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Mafia | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | organisierte Verbrecherorganisationen |
Where the eye mixes Mafia and Mail
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Mafia runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against Mail's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Mafia vs Mail
A purely visual mix-up. Mafia ([ˈmafi̯a]) and Mail ([mɛɪ̯l]) 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 9456, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Mafia is recorded at frequency rank #7,642, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmafi̯a]. Mail is at rank #1,814, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mɛɪ̯l].
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 9456, this pair ranks #1,979,868 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Mafia vs Mail
Shared letters: aim. Private to "Mafia": f. Private to "Mail": l.
"Mafia" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "Mail" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Mafia" and "Mail" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Mafia" or "Mail"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Mafia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Mail" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,979,868 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Mafia" and "Mail" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mafia vs marcia". 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 #1,979,868 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.