Which to use
“maim” is a verb and “mammy” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,918
- “maim” frequency rank
- #46,044
- “mammy” frequency rank
- 90962
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maim | mammy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To wound seriously; to cause permanent loss of function of a limb or part of the body. | mamma; mother |
Letter map: maim vs mammy
Shared letters muted; letters that set maim and mammy apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. maim runs 4 letters (CVVC) against mammy's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Role in the sentence - maim and mammy
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: maim is averb and mammyanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 90962, 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/. mammy is at rank #46,044, 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 90962, this pair ranks #3,714 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of maim vs mammy
Shared letters: am. Private to "maim": i. Private to "mammy": y.
"maim" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "mammy" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maim" and "mammy" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "maim" vs "mammy" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "maim" and "mammy". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "maim" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mammy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #3,714 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maim" and "mammy" 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 #3,714 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.