boisvsBösesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,226
“bois” frequency rank
#7,886
“Böses” frequency rank
35112
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bois Böses
Definition Baumaterial, das man aus Bäumen gewinnt: Holz Inbegriff für alles, was nicht gut respektive ethisch falsch ist

Where the eye mixes bois and Böses

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
bois
5 ch
Böses

Why the eye confuses bois with Böses

A purely visual mix-up. bois ([bwa]) and Böses ([ˈbøːzəs]) 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 35112, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bois is recorded at frequency rank #27,226, classified as anoun, pronounced [bwa]. Böses is at rank #7,886, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbøːzəs].

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 35112, this pair ranks #1,647,782 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bois vs Böses

Shared letters: bs. Private to "bois": io. Private to "Böses": .

"bois" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Böses" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • boisbbois · boiss · bosi · obis

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bois" and "Böses" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bwa] versus [ˈbøːzəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bois" vs "Böses" - which ranks higher?
"Böses" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,886 in our German list, against #27,226 for "bois". 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 "bois" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Böses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,647,782 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bois" and "Böses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bims vs bois". 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 #1,647,782 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