imagevsimamWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“image” and “imam” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,613
“image” frequency rank
#47,193
“imam” frequency rank
63806
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature image imam
Definition Imagen. Variante de imán₂.

Where the eye mixes image and imam

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
image
4 ch
imam

Visual trap between image and imam

A purely visual mix-up. image ([Lyon (Francia)] /i.maʒ/) and imam ([iˈmãm]) 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 63806, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

image is recorded at frequency rank #16,613, classified as anoun, pronounced [Lyon (Francia)] /i.maʒ/. imam is at rank #47,193, tagged as anoun, pronounced [iˈmãm].

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 63806, this pair ranks #47,543 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of image vs imam

Shared letters: aim. Private to "image": eg. Private to "imam": -.

"image" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "imam" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • imageiamge · imaeg · imagge · imgae · immage · miage
  • imamiamm · imamm · immam

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "image" for "imam" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([Lyon (Francia)] /i.maʒ/ versus [iˈmãm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "image" or "imam"?
"image" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,613 in our Spanish list, against #47,193 for "imam". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "image" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "imam" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #47,543 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "image" and "imam" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imam vs iza". 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 #47,543 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list