Which to use
“maim” is a verb and “maize” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,918
- “maim” frequency rank
- #18,616
- “maize” frequency rank
- 63534
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maim | maize |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To wound seriously; to cause permanent loss of function of a limb or part of the body. | Corn; a type of grain of the species Zea mays. |
Where the eye mixes maim and maize
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. maim runs 4 letters (CVVC) against maize's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: maim vs maize
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maim is /meɪm/ while maize is /meɪz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63534, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maim is recorded at frequency rank #44,918, classified as averb, pronounced /meɪm/. maize is at rank #18,616, tagged as anoun, pronounced /meɪz/.
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 63534, this pair ranks #82,438 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of maim vs maize
Shared letters: aim. Private to "maim": -. Private to "maize": ez.
"maim" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "maize" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "maim" for "maize" ever safe?
Which is more common, "maim" or "maize"?
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 "maim" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "maize" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #82,438 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maim" and "maize" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maim vs marl". 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 #82,438 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.