maimedvsmattedWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“maimed” and “matted” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#36,651
“maimed” frequency rank
#39,418
“matted” frequency rank
76069
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maimed matted
Definition Partially or wholly deprived of the use of some part of the body, usually by wounding or injury. Forming a thick tangled mess.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maimed and matted apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
maimed
6 ch
matted

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

maimed and matted are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76069, 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/. matted is at rank #39,418, tagged as anadj.

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 76069, this pair ranks #31,164 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of maimed vs matted

Shared letters: adem. Private to "maimed": i. Private to "matted": t.

"maimed" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "matted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maimedamimed · maiemd · maimde · maimedd · maimmed · mamied · miamed · mmaimed
  • mattedamtted · matetd · mattde · mattedd · mmatted · mtated

Frequency comparison

maimed#36,651
matted#39,418

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maimed" and "matted" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "maimed" or "matted"?
"maimed" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,651 in our English list, against #39,418 for "matted". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering maimed vs matted

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “maimed” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list