Which to use
“sam” and “shame” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,889
- “sam” frequency rank
- #47,411
- “shame” frequency rank
- 53300
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sam | shame |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Arena. | Vergüenza. |
Where the eye mixes sam and shame
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sam with shame
A purely visual mix-up. sam (/sam/) and shame (/ʃeɪm/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53300, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sam is recorded at frequency rank #5,889, classified as anoun, pronounced /sam/. shame is at rank #47,411, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ʃeɪm/.
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 53300, this pair ranks #88,581 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sam vs shame
Shared letters: ams. Private to "sam": -. Private to "shame": eh.
"sam" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "shame" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- shame ← hsame · sahme · shaem · shamme · shhame · shmae · sshame
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sam" for "shame" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sam" vs "shame" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "shame" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #88,581 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sam" and "shame" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shall vs shame". 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 #88,581 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.