Which to use
“bast” and “bus” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,486
- “bast” frequency rank
- #1,554
- “bus” frequency rank
- 49040
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bast | bus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Inner bark of a tree from which rope is traditionally made. | A motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads. |
Where the eye mixes bast and bus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: bast vs bus
A purely visual mix-up. bast (/bɑːst/) and bus (/bʌs/) 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 49040, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bast is recorded at frequency rank #47,486, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɑːst/. bus is at rank #1,554, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bʌs/.
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 49040, this pair ranks #187,411 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bast vs bus
Shared letters: bs. Private to "bast": at. Private to "bus": u.
"bast" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "bus" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bast ← abst · basst · bastt · bbast · bsat
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bast" and "bus" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "bast" or "bus"?
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 "bast" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #187,411 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bast" and "bus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bast vs BFS". 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 #187,411 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.