Which to use
“dama” and “dash” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,460
- “dama” frequency rank
- #21,982
- “dash” frequency rank
- 26442
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dama | dash |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | peça do jogo de xadrez | travessão, hífen |
Where the eye mixes dama and dash
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses dama with dash
A purely visual mix-up. dama (/ˈdɐ.mɐ/) and dash (/ˈdæʃ/) 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 26442, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dama is recorded at frequency rank #4,460, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɐ.mɐ/. dash is at rank #21,982, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdæʃ/.
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 26442, this pair ranks #42,707 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dama vs dash
Shared letters: ad. Private to "dama": m. Private to "dash": hs.
"dama" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "dash" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dama" and "dash" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "dama" or "dash" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "dama" and "dash" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dama" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dash" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #42,707 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dama" and "dash" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dash vs dat". 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 #42,707 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.