maracasvsmaricasTell them apart

Which to use

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

#46,048
“maracas” frequency rank
#32,289
“maricas” frequency rank
78337
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maracas maricas
Definition Forma del plural de maraca. Forma del plural de marica.

Where the eye mixes maracas and maricas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
maracas
7 ch
maricas

Why the eye confuses maracas with maricas

A purely visual mix-up. maracas ([maˈɾakas]) and maricas ([maˈɾikas]) 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 - a in “maracas” becomes i in “maricas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78337, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maracas is recorded at frequency rank #46,048, classified as anoun, pronounced [maˈɾakas]. maricas is at rank #32,289, tagged as anoun, pronounced [maˈɾikas].

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 78337, this pair ranks #14,600 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of maracas vs maricas

Shared letters: acmrs. Private to "maracas": -. Private to "maricas": i.

"maracas" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "maricas" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maracasamracas · maarcas · maraacs · maracass · maraccas · maracsa · marcaas · marracas
  • maricasamricas · maircas · marcias · mariacs · maricass · mariccas · maricsa · marricas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maracas" and "maricas" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([maˈɾakas] versus [maˈɾikas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "maracas" vs "maricas" - which ranks higher?
"maricas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,289 in our Spanish list, against #46,048 for "maracas". 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 "maracas" and "maricas" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "maracas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "maricas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #14,600 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "maracas" and "maricas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maracas vs mirabas". 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 #14,600 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