Which to use
“mart” and “maw” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,415
- “mart” frequency rank
- #30,495
- “maw” frequency rank
- 41910
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mart | maw |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A shop, a store, a market. | The stomach, especially of an animal. |
Where the eye mixes mart and maw
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mart with maw
A purely visual mix-up. mart (/mɑɹt/) and maw (/mɔː/) 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 41910, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mart is recorded at frequency rank #11,415, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɑɹt/. maw is at rank #30,495, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɔː/.
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 41910, this pair ranks #254,017 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mart vs maw
Shared letters: am. Private to "mart": rt. Private to "maw": w.
"mart" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "maw" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mart ← amrt · marrt · martt · matr · mmart · mrat
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mart" for "maw" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "mart" or "maw" show up more?
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 "mart" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "maw" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #254,017 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mart" and "maw" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maw vs MPAA". 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 #254,017 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.