Which to use
“mic” and “moa” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,496
- “mic” frequency rank
- #45,173
- “moa” frequency rank
- 81669
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mic | moa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Microphone. | Une des espèces d'oiseaux terrestres (ratites) géants (jusqu'à trois mètres de haut), incapables de voler, originaires de Nouvelle-Zélande, éteintes après l'arrivée des ancêtres des Maori. |
Where the eye mixes mic and moa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mic vs moa
A purely visual mix-up. mic (\mik\) and moa (\mɔ.a\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81669, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mic is recorded at frequency rank #36,496, classified as anoun, pronounced \mik\. moa is at rank #45,173, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɔ.a\.
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 81669, this pair ranks #18,273 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mic vs moa
Shared letters: m. Private to "mic": ci. Private to "moa": ao.
"mic" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "moa" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mic" and "moa" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mic" vs "moa" - which ranks higher?
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 "mic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "moa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #18,273 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mic" and "moa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "moa vs MWh". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #18,273 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.