BassvsBimsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Bass” and “Bims” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,275
“Bass” frequency rank
#49,527
“Bims” frequency rank
55802
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bass Bims
Definition tiefe Singstimme bei Männern poröses, glasiges Vulkangestein, aus dem häufig Bausteine hergestellt werden

Where the eye mixes Bass and Bims

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Bass and Bims follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
Bass
4 ch
Bims

Look-alike desk: Bass vs Bims

A purely visual mix-up. Bass ([bas]) and Bims ([bɪms]) 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 55802, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bass is recorded at frequency rank #6,275, classified as anoun, pronounced [bas]. Bims is at rank #49,527, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bɪms].

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 55802, this pair ranks #965,152 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Bass vs Bims

Shared letters: bs. Private to "Bass": a. Private to "Bims": im.

"Bass" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Bims" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bass ← abss · bas · baß · bbass · bsas
  • Bims ← bbims · bimms · bimss · bism · bmis · ibms

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Bass" for "Bims" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bas] versus [bɪms]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Bass" or "Bims"?
"Bass" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,275 in our German list, against #49,527 for "Bims". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Bass" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bims" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #965,152 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Bass" and "Bims" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bic vs Bims". 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 #965,152 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list