samba
/ˈsɑmbə/
"samba" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“samba” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #23,093 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #23,093
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A Brazilian ballroom dance or dance style.
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 | samba |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsɑmbə/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #23,093 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “samba” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for samba is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsɑmbə/. Corpus data places it at rank #23,093 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for samba, with forms such as "asmba", "sabma", and "samab". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "SMA", "SBA", "same", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Brazilian Portuguese samba, from a Bantu language. Doublet of semba. The correct English form is samba, spelled S-A-M-B-A.
Definition
- 1A Brazilian ballroom dance or dance style.
- 2A Brazilian musical genre, to which the aforementioned dance is danced, which has its roots in West Africa via the slave trade.
Etymology
Borrowed from Brazilian Portuguese samba, from a Bantu language. Doublet of semba.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: asmba,sabma,samab,sambba,sammba,smaba,ssamba
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of samba - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “samba”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-A-M-B-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsɑmbə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “SMA” - see the side-by-side comparison. samba vs SMA
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.