memvsmmmmTell them apart

Which to use

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

#32,499
“mem” frequency rank
#27,220
“mmmm” frequency rank
59719
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mem mmmm
Definition The thirteenth letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others). Elongated form of mmm.

Letter map: mem vs mmmm

Shared letters muted; letters that set mem and mmmm apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch
mem
4 ch
mmmm

Corpus notes: mem and mmmm

mem and mmmm 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59719, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mem is recorded at frequency rank #32,499, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɛm/. mmmm is at rank #27,220, tagged as anoun.

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 59719, this pair ranks #104,482 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mem vs mmmm

Shared letters: m. Private to "mem": e. Private to "mmmm": -.

"mem" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "mmmm" · 4 letters · shape CCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mem" and "mmmm" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "mem" vs "mmmm" - which ranks higher?
"mmmm" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,220 in our English list, against #32,499 for "mem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "mem" vs "mmmm" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mmmm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #104,482 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mem" and "mmmm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mem vs MMP". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #104,482 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list