Which to use
“Mafia” is a name and “maki” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,208
- “Mafia” frequency rank
- #31,647
- “maki” frequency rank
- 40855
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Mafia | maki |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The Mob: any particular mafia, mentioned uniquely within the discussion's established or implicit context, usually and especially the Sicilian-Italian–Italian-American one (especially in American English) but occasionally others (e.g., the Russian one, the Japanese one). | A ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta). |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Mafia and maki apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Mafia and maki form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40855, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Mafia is recorded at frequency rank #9,208, classified as aname, pronounced /ˈmɑfi.ə/. maki is at rank #31,647, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɑːki/.
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 40855, this pair ranks #263,801 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Mafia" and "maki" be used interchangeably?
Remembering Mafia vs maki
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Mafia”; for a noun, it's “maki”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Mafia” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable