Which to use
“bans” and “basins” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,342
- “bans” frequency rank
- #20,564
- “basins” frequency rank
- 31906
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bans | basins |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of ban | plural of basin |
Where the eye mixes bans and basins
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses bans with basins
A purely visual mix-up. bans (/bænz/) and basins (/ˈbeɪsɪnz/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31906, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bans is recorded at frequency rank #11,342, classified as anoun, pronounced /bænz/. basins is at rank #20,564, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbeɪsɪnz/.
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 31906, this pair ranks #342,225 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bans vs basins
Shared letters: abns. Private to "bans": -. Private to "basins": i.
"bans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "basins" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bans" for "basins" ever safe?
Which is more common, "bans" or "basins"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "bans" and "basins" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "basins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #342,225 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bans" and "basins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bails vs basins". 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 #342,225 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.