Which to use
“mages” and “magic” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,499
- “mages” frequency rank
- #1,796
- “magic” frequency rank
- 47295
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mages | magic |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of mage | The application of rituals or actions, especially those based on occult knowledge, to subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces in order to have some benefit from them. |
Where the eye mixes mages and magic
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mages vs magic
A purely visual mix-up. mages (/ˈmeɪ.d͡ʒɪz/) and magic (/ˈmad͡ʒɪk/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47295, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mages is recorded at frequency rank #45,499, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmeɪ.d͡ʒɪz/. magic is at rank #1,796, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmad͡ʒɪk/.
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 47295, this pair ranks #203,759 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mages vs magic
Shared letters: agm. Private to "mages": es. Private to "magic": ci.
"mages" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "magic" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mages" and "magic" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mages" vs "magic" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mages" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "magic" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #203,759 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mages" and "magic" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mages vs MGS". 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 #203,759 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.