Which to use
“seaman” and “shamans” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,501
- “seaman” frequency rank
- #38,160
- “shamans” frequency rank
- 60661
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seaman | shamans |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Synonym of sailor, particularly on a maritime vessel. | plural of shaman |
Where the eye mixes seaman and shamans
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. seaman runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against shamans's 7 (CCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between seaman and shamans
A purely visual mix-up. seaman (/ˈsiːmən/) and shamans (/ˈʃɑː.mənz/) 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 60661, 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/. shamans is at rank #38,160, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈʃɑː.mənz/.
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 60661, this pair ranks #98,879 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of seaman vs shamans
Shared letters: amns. Private to "seaman": e. Private to "shamans": h.
"seaman" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "shamans" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "seaman" and "shamans" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "seaman" vs "shamans" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "seaman" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "shamans" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #98,879 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "seaman" and "shamans" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shamans vs Shams". 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 #98,879 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.