mínimavsmismaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,800
“mínima” frequency rank
#243
“misma” frequency rank
4043
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mínima misma
Definition Forma del femenino de mínimo. Forma del femenino singular de mismo.

Where the eye mixes mínima and misma

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

6 ch
mínima
5 ch
misma

Why the eye confuses mínima with misma

A purely visual mix-up. mínima ([ˈminima]) and misma ([ˈmisma]) 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 4043, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mínima is recorded at frequency rank #3,800, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈminima]. misma is at rank #243, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈmisma].

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 4043, this pair ranks #317,012 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mínima vs misma

Shared letters: aim. Private to "mínima": . Private to "misma": s.

"mínima" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "misma" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mismaimsma · mimsa · misam · mismma · missma · mmisma · msima

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mínima" for "misma" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈminima] versus [ˈmisma]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "mínima" or "misma" show up more?
"misma" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #243 in our Spanish list, against #3,800 for "mínima". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mínima" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "misma" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #317,012 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mínima" and "misma" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "minga vs mínima". 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 #317,012 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