Which to use
“baited” and “bolted” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,814
- “baited” frequency rank
- #20,857
- “bolted” frequency rank
- 58671
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | baited | bolted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of bait | simple past and past participle of bolt |
Where the eye mixes baited and bolted
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. baited (CVVCVC) and bolted (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses baited with bolted
A purely visual mix-up. baited (/ˈbeɪtɪd/) and bolted (/ˈbəʊltɪd/) 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 58671, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
baited is recorded at frequency rank #37,814, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈbeɪtɪd/. bolted is at rank #20,857, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈbəʊltɪd/.
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 58671, this pair ranks #111,062 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of baited vs bolted
Shared letters: bdet. Private to "baited": ai. Private to "bolted": lo.
"baited" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "bolted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "baited" and "bolted" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "baited" vs "bolted" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "baited" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bolted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #111,062 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "baited" and "bolted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "baited vs butted". 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 #111,062 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.