Which to use
“balk” and “bar” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,576
- “balk” frequency rank
- #1,213
- “bar” frequency rank
- 41789
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | balk | bar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An uncultivated ridge formed in the open field system, caused by the action of ploughing. | A solid, more or less rigid object of metal or wood with a uniform cross-section smaller than its length. |
Where the eye mixes balk and bar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: balk vs bar
A purely visual mix-up. balk (/bɔːk/) and bar (/bɑː/) 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 41789, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
balk is recorded at frequency rank #40,576, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɔːk/. bar is at rank #1,213, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɑː/.
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 41789, this pair ranks #255,178 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of balk vs bar
Shared letters: ab. Private to "balk": kl. Private to "bar": r.
"balk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "bar" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- balk ← ablk · bakl · balkk · ballk · bbalk · blak
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "balk" for "bar" ever safe?
Which is more common, "balk" or "bar"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "balk" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #255,178 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "balk" and "bar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bails vs balk". 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 #255,178 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.