machivsmachoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,467
“machi” frequency rank
#4,802
“macho” frequency rank
46269
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature machi macho
Definition Chamán entre los mapuches, que diagnostica y cura las enfermedades e invoca los espíritus. En las especies de reproducción sexual, uno de los dos sexos, aquel que aporta el gameto de menor tamaño al cigoto y que entre los vertebrados no gesta internamente en ningún momento.

Where the eye mixes machi and macho

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
machi
5 ch
macho

Look-alike desk: machi vs macho

A purely visual mix-up. machi ([ˈmat͡ʃi]) and macho ([ˈmat͡ʃo]) 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 a single letter - i in “machi” becomes o in “macho”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46269, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

machi is recorded at frequency rank #41,467, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmat͡ʃi]. macho is at rank #4,802, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmat͡ʃo].

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 46269, this pair ranks #126,706 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of machi vs macho

Shared letters: achm. Private to "machi": i. Private to "macho": o.

"machi" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "macho" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • machiamchi · macchi · machhi · macih · mahci · mcahi · mmachi
  • machoamcho · maccho · machho · macoh · mahco · mcaho · mmacho

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "machi" for "macho" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmat͡ʃi] versus [ˈmat͡ʃo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "machi" vs "macho" - which ranks higher?
"macho" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,802 in our Spanish list, against #41,467 for "machi". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "machi" and "macho" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "machi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "macho" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #126,706 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "machi" and "macho" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "machi vs math". 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 #126,706 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