barfvsbarthWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“barf” and “barth” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#39,696
“barf” frequency rank
#33,945
“barth” frequency rank
73641
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature barf barth
Definition Vomit. A place of shelter for cattle.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set barf and barth apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
barf
5 ch
barth

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. barf (/bɑːf/) and barth (/bɑː(ɹ)θ/) 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 73641, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

barf is recorded at frequency rank #39,696, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɑːf/. barth is at rank #33,945, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɑː(ɹ)θ/.

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 73641, this pair ranks #38,946 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of barf vs barth

Shared letters: abr. Private to "barf": f. Private to "barth": ht.

"barf" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "barth" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • barfabrf · bafr · barff · barrf · bbarf · braf
  • barthabrth · barht · barrth · barthh · bartth · batrh · bbarth · brath

Frequency comparison

barf#39,696
barth#33,945

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "barf" and "barth" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/bɑːf/ versus /bɑː(ɹ)θ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "barf" or "barth"?
"barth" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,945 in our English list, against #39,696 for "barf". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering barf vs barth

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “barf” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list