Which to use
“bear” and “bias” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,985
- “bear” frequency rank
- #5,297
- “bias” frequency rank
- 7282
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bear | bias |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A large, generally omnivorous mammal (a few species are purely carnivorous or herbivorous), having shaggy fur, a very small tail, and flat feet; a member of the family Ursidae. | Inclination towards something. |
Where the eye mixes bear and bias
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: bear vs bias
A purely visual mix-up. bear (/bɛə/) and bias (/ˈbaɪ.əs/) 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 7282, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bear is recorded at frequency rank #1,985, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɛə/. bias is at rank #5,297, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbaɪ.əs/.
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 7282, this pair ranks #507,791 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bear vs bias
Shared letters: ab. Private to "bear": er. Private to "bias": is.
"bear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "bias" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bear" and "bias" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "bear" vs "bias" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bias" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #507,791 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bear" and "bias" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "BFS vs bias". 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 #507,791 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.