Which to use
“macho” and “mago” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,802
- “macho” frequency rank
- #8,140
- “mago” frequency rank
- 12942
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | macho | mago |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Persona que practica la magia. |
Where the eye mixes macho and mago
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses macho with mago
A purely visual mix-up. macho ([ˈmat͡ʃo]) and mago ([ˈmaɣ̞o]) 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 12942, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
macho is recorded at frequency rank #4,802, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmat͡ʃo]. mago is at rank #8,140, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaɣ̞o].
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 12942, this pair ranks #289,711 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of macho vs mago
Shared letters: amo. Private to "macho": ch. Private to "mago": g.
"macho" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "mago" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "macho" for "mago" ever safe?
Frequency check: "macho" vs "mago" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "macho" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mago" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #289,711 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "macho" and "mago" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mago 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 #289,711 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.