Which to use
“mab” is a noun and “mair” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,175
- “mab” frequency rank
- #43,249
- “mair” frequency rank
- 90424
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mab | mair |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A slattern. | more |
Letter map: mab vs mair
Shared letters muted; letters that set mab and mair apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. mab runs 3 letters (CVC) against mair's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: mab vs mair
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mab is anoun and mairanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 90424, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mab is recorded at frequency rank #47,175, classified as anoun. mair is at rank #43,249, tagged as anadj, pronounced /mɛə/.
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 90424, this pair ranks #4,214 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mab vs mair
Shared letters: am. Private to "mab": b. Private to "mair": ir.
"mab" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "mair" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mair ← mairr · mmair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mab" and "mair" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "mab" or "mair"?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "mab" and "mair".
- Full dictionary entry for "mab" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mair" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #4,214 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mab" and "mair" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mab vs MPAA". 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 #4,214 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.