samba
[ˈsãmba]
The verdict
“samba” is a moderately-common Spanish word, ranked #23,585 in Spanish word frequency and used as a noun.
- #23,585
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Género musical popular de origen brasileño y ascendencia africana, en ritmo de 2/4.
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 | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈsãmba] |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #23,585 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “samba” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for samba is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈsãmba]. Corpus data places it at rank #23,585 in overall Spanish word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 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, "suma", "sara", "suba", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct Spanish form is samba, spelled S-A-M-B-A.
Definition
- 1Género musical popular de origen brasileño y ascendencia africana, en ritmo de 2/4.
- 2Estilo de baile que se danza al compás de la samba₁.
- 3En los parques de diversiones, juego que consiste en bailar samba alrededor de un tambor giratorio sin caerse.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: asmba,sabma,samab,sambba,sammba,samva,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 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "samba"?
What does "samba" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “samba”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is S-A-M-B-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈsãmba] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “suma” - see the side-by-side comparison. samba vs suma
- Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish 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.