Which to use
“maimed” and “marred” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,651
- “maimed” frequency rank
- #25,839
- “marred” frequency rank
- 62490
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maimed | marred |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partially or wholly deprived of the use of some part of the body, usually by wounding or injury. | Spoiled; harmed or damaged. |
Where the eye mixes maimed and marred
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. maimed (CVVCVC) and marred (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between maimed and marred
A purely visual mix-up. maimed (/meɪmd/) and marred (/mɑːd/) 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 62490, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maimed is recorded at frequency rank #36,651, classified as anadj, pronounced /meɪmd/. marred is at rank #25,839, tagged as anadj, pronounced /mɑːd/.
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 62490, this pair ranks #88,222 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of maimed vs marred
Shared letters: adem. Private to "maimed": i. Private to "marred": r.
"maimed" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "marred" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "maimed" for "marred" ever safe?
Frequency check: "maimed" vs "marred" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "maimed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "marred" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #88,222 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maimed" and "marred" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maim vs maimed". 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 #88,222 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.