imagevsImamWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“image” and “Imam” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,260
“image” frequency rank
#42,047
“Imam” frequency rank
54307
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature image Imam
Definition imagem, figura, fotografia imã

Where the eye mixes image and Imam

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
image
4 ch
Imam

Visual trap between image and Imam

A purely visual mix-up. image (/ˈɪmɪdʒ/) and Imam (/iˈmaːm/) 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 54307, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

image is recorded at frequency rank #12,260, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɪmɪdʒ/. Imam is at rank #42,047, tagged as anoun, pronounced /iˈmaːm/.

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 54307, this pair ranks #11,365 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of image vs Imam

Shared letters: aim. Private to "image": eg. Private to "Imam": -.

"image" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "Imam" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • imageiamge · imaeg · imagge · imgae · immage · miage
  • Imamiamm · imamm · imma · immam · miam

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "image" for "Imam" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈɪmɪdʒ/ versus /iˈmaːm/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "image" or "Imam"?
"image" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,260 in our Portuguese list, against #42,047 for "Imam". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "image" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Imam" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #11,365 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "image" and "Imam" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Imam vs imi". 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 #11,365 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list