Which to use
“Maori” and “mara” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,269
- “Maori” frequency rank
- #16,072
- “mara” frequency rank
- 37341
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Maori | mara |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A member of the indigenous people of New Zealand. | A nightmare; a spectre or wraith-like creature in Germanic and particularly Scandinavian folklore; a female demon who torments people in sleep by crouching on their chests or stomachs, or by causing terrifying visions. |
Where the eye mixes Maori and mara
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Maori vs mara
A purely visual mix-up. Maori (/ˈmaʊɹi/) and mara (/ˈmɑːɹə/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37341, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Maori is recorded at frequency rank #21,269, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmaʊɹi/. mara is at rank #16,072, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɑːɹə/.
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 37341, this pair ranks #295,404 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Maori vs mara
Shared letters: amr. Private to "Maori": io. Private to "mara": -.
"Maori" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "mara" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Maori" for "mara" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Maori" vs "mara" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Maori" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mara" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #295,404 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Maori" and "mara" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Maori 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 #295,404 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.