imagemvsImamWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#601
“imagem” frequency rank
#42,047
“Imam” frequency rank
42648
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature imagem Imam
Definition representação de uma pessoa ou objeto imã

Where the eye mixes imagem and Imam

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

6 ch
imagem
4 ch
Imam

Visual trap between imagem and Imam

A purely visual mix-up. imagem (/i.ˈma.ʒɐ̃j̃/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42648, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

imagem is recorded at frequency rank #601, classified as anoun, pronounced /i.ˈma.ʒɐ̃j̃/. 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 42648, this pair ranks #23,110 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of imagem vs Imam

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

"imagem" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "Imam" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • imagemiamgem · imaegm · imagemm · imaggem · imagme · imgaem · immagem · miagem
  • Imamiamm · imamm · imma · immam · miam

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "imagem" for "Imam" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/i.ˈma.ʒɐ̃j̃/ versus /iˈmaːm/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "imagem" vs "Imam" - which ranks higher?
"imagem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #601 in our Portuguese list, against #42,047 for "Imam". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "imagem" and "Imam" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "imagem" 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 #23,110 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "imagem" 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 #23,110 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