Which to use
“mau” is an adjective and “miau” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,153
- “mau” frequency rank
- #39,339
- “miau” frequency rank
- 75492
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mau | miau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Malo | Imita el maullido (voz que emiten el gato y otros felinos pequeños). |
Where the eye mixes mau and miau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mau runs 3 letters (CVV) against miau's 4 (CVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses mau with miau
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mau is [ˈmaw] while miau is [ˈmjaw]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mau is recorded at frequency rank #36,153, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈmaw]. miau is at rank #39,339, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmjaw].
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 75492, this pair ranks #19,442 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mau vs miau
Shared letters: amu. Private to "mau": -. Private to "miau": i.
"mau" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "miau" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- miau ← imau · maiu · miua · mmiau
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mau" for "miau" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mau" or "miau"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "mau" and "miau" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "miau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #19,442 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mau" and "miau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mau 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 #19,442 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.