maravsmaxTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,956
“mara” frequency rank
#3,939
“max” frequency rank
17895
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mara max
Definition Pandilla de jóvenes urbanos, especialmente la de comportamiento antisocial o delictivo. Caballo, equino.

Where the eye mixes mara and max

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
mara
3 ch
max

Why the eye confuses mara with max

A purely visual mix-up. mara ([ˈmaɾa]) and max (/ma˧˩/) 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 17895, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mara is recorded at frequency rank #13,956, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaɾa]. max is at rank #3,939, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ma˧˩/.

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 17895, this pair ranks #270,231 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mara vs max

Shared letters: am. Private to "mara": r. Private to "max": x.

"mara" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "max" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maramarra · mmara · mraa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mara" and "max" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmaɾa] versus /ma˧˩/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mara" or "max"?
"max" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,939 in our Spanish list, against #13,956 for "mara". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mara" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "max" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #270,231 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mara" and "max" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mara vs mur". 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 #270,231 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