GABAvsgoyaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“GABA” and “goya” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#35,308
“GABA” frequency rank
#43,674
“goya” frequency rank
78982
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature GABA goya
Definition Acronym of gamma-aminobutyric acid. bitter melon (edible fruit, especially as it is eaten by Okinawans)

Letter map: GABA vs goya

Shared letters muted; letters that set GABA and goya apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. GABA (CVCV) and goya (CVVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
GABA
4 ch
goya

Corpus notes: GABA and goya

GABA and goya are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78982, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

GABA is recorded at frequency rank #35,308, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡæbə/. goya is at rank #43,674, tagged as anoun.

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 78982, this pair ranks #23,241 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of GABA vs goya

Shared letters: ag. Private to "GABA": b. Private to "goya": oy.

"GABA" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "goya" · 4 letters · shape CVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • GABA ← agba · gaab · gabba · gbaa · ggaba
  • goya ← ggoya · goay · goyya · gyoa · ogya

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "GABA" for "goya" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary English text, does "GABA" or "goya" show up more?
"GABA" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,308 in our English list, against #43,674 for "goya". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "GABA" and "goya".

  • Full dictionary entry for "GABA" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "goya" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #23,241 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "GABA" and "goya" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gama vs goya". 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 #23,241 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list