Which to use
“mara” is a noun and “mere” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,072
- “mara” frequency rank
- #5,812
- “mere” frequency rank
- 21884
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mara | mere |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Just, only; no more than, pure and simple, neither more nor better than might be expected. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mara and mere apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
mara and mere form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21884, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mara is recorded at frequency rank #16,072, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɑːɹə/. mere is at rank #5,812, tagged as anadj, pronounced /mɪə̯/.
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 21884, this pair ranks #420,661 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mara" and "mere" be used interchangeably?
Remembering mara vs mere
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “mara”; for an adjective, it's “mere”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mara” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable