Macao
"macao" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Macao” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #37,077. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #37,077
- frequency rank, English
- 4,057
- “M” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Alternative spelling of Macau:
Corpus desk
Index EN-macao · Macao · English
Macao · rank #37,077 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #37,077
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,057
- PHOTO-FINISH lusty
Nearest frequency peer: lusty (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “Macao”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- lowercase
lowercase
62,927 corpus weight
- lusty
lusty
62,925 corpus weight
- Macao
Macao
62,924 corpus weight
- maddening
maddening
62,923 corpus weight
- malnourished
malnourished
62,922 corpus weight
- mami
mami
62,921 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “Macao” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Macao |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #37,077 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Macao” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around Macao, aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #37,077 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for Macao, with forms such as "amcao", "maaco", and "maccao". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "mao", "mama", "Maya", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is Macao, spelled M-A-C-A-O.
Definition
- 1Alternative spelling of Macau:
- 2Alternative spelling of Macau:
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how Macao appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
It would be however a very acceptable thing if ſome curious Navigators would inform us, what tides or Currents are found at Macao, Quemoy, and other places on the Coast of China and on Formoſa ; it being moſt probable that this flood cometh out of the North Eaſt, alongſt the Coaſt of China, for that the Northerly Moonsoon is found to occaſion the higheſt…
Macao is a ſmall Iſland in the Bay of Quantung, a Province of China, at a little diſtance from it ; in which is a Town bearing the ſame Name, heretofore the moſt famous and wealthy Mart of the Portugueſes, and granted to them by the Chineſes ; but its Reputation is now a great deal leſs :[...]
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- amcao
- maaco
- maccao
- macoa
- mcaao
- mmacao
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Macao - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "Macao"?
What does "Macao" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "Macao"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Macao", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.