Which to use
“marfim” and “Maria” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,530
- “marfim” frequency rank
- #619
- “Maria” frequency rank
- 10149
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | marfim | Maria |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | substância que entra na composição dos dentes dos mamíferos; dentina | prenome feminino muito comum |
Where the eye mixes marfim and Maria
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. marfim runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against Maria's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses marfim with Maria
A purely visual mix-up. marfim (/mɐɾ.ˈfĩ/) and Maria (/ma.ˈɾi.ɐ/) 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 10149, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
marfim is recorded at frequency rank #9,530, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɐɾ.ˈfĩ/. Maria is at rank #619, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ma.ˈɾi.ɐ/.
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 10149, this pair ranks #63,067 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of marfim vs Maria
Shared letters: aimr. Private to "marfim": f. Private to "Maria": -.
"marfim" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Maria" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "marfim" for "Maria" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "marfim" or "Maria" show up more?
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 "marfim" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Maria" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #63,067 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "marfim" and "Maria" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Maria vs mirra". 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 #63,067 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.