Which to use
“seaman” and “shaman” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,501
- “seaman” frequency rank
- #21,932
- “shaman” frequency rank
- 44433
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seaman | shaman |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Synonym of sailor, particularly on a maritime vessel. | A traditional faith healer. |
Where the eye mixes seaman and shaman
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. seaman (CVVCVC) and shaman (CCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: seaman vs shaman
A purely visual mix-up. seaman (/ˈsiːmən/) and shaman (/ˈʃɑːmən/) 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 a single letter - e in “seaman” becomes h in “shaman”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44433, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
seaman is recorded at frequency rank #22,501, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsiːmən/. shaman is at rank #21,932, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈʃɑːmən/.
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 44433, this pair ranks #230,619 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of seaman vs shaman
Shared letters: amns. Private to "seaman": e. Private to "shaman": h.
"seaman" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "shaman" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "seaman" and "shaman" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "seaman" vs "shaman" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "seaman" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "shaman" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #230,619 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "seaman" and "shaman" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sealant vs seaman". 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 #230,619 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.