Which to use
“mau” is an adjective and “miau” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,936
- “mau” frequency rank
- #34,812
- “miau” frequency rank
- 36748
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mau | miau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que não é de boa qualidade, ruim | minhau |
Where the eye mixes mau and miau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mau runs 3 letters (CVV) against miau's 4 (CVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses mau with miau
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mau is /ˈmaw/ while miau is /miˈaʊ̯/ ouvir^(fonte ?). Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36748, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mau is recorded at frequency rank #1,936, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈmaw/. miau is at rank #34,812, tagged as anintj, pronounced /miˈaʊ̯/ ouvir^(fonte ?).
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 36748, this pair ranks #29,994 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mau vs miau
Shared letters: amu. Private to "mau": -. Private to "miau": i.
"mau" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "miau" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- miau ← imau · maiu · miua · mmiau
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mau" for "miau" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mau" or "miau"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "mau" and "miau" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "miau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #29,994 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mau" and "miau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs miau". 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 #29,994 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.