maxvsmeuWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: max is a adjective, meu is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“max” is an adjective and “meu” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,222
“max” frequency rank
#48,897
“meu” frequency rank
51119
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature max meu
Definition Maximum; maximal. Meum athamanticum, a European herb.

Where the eye mixes max and meu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
max
3 ch
meu

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: max is /mæks/ while meu is /ˈmjuː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51119, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

max is recorded at frequency rank #2,222, classified as anadj, pronounced /mæks/. meu is at rank #48,897, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmjuː/.

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 51119, this pair ranks #168,205 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of max vs meu

Shared letters: m. Private to "max": ax. Private to "meu": eu.

"max" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "meu" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "max" and "meu" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "max" is an adjective and "meu" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "max" or "meu"?
"max" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,222 in our English list, against #48,897 for "meu". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list