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Beau or bo?

beau is a noun meaning “A male escort”; bo is an interjection meaning “An exclamation used to startle or frighten”. Use beau as a noun and bo as an interjection (bo is also a noun: “Fellow, chap, boy”). They sound the same (/ˈbəʊ̯/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) bo is about 2.6 times as common as beau.

beauorbo

What is the difference between beau and bo?

beaubo
Part of speechnoun, verbinterjection, noun, particle, phrase, verb
Meaning

A male escort

A suitor of a lady

To act as a beau (towards); to court or woo

An exclamation used to startle or frighten

A quarterstaff, especially in an oriental context

Final interrogative particle, used to invite agreement

Examplenone recordedSwee bo?
Formsbeaux, beausboh, boo
Pronunciation/ˈbəʊ̯/ [ˈbəʊ̯] /ˈbɵʊ̯//bəʊ/ /boʊ/ [boː˨˦]
In writing3.8 times per million words10 times per million words

Sources: beau and bo in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Every current meaning of beau and bo

beau

  1. 1

    noun datedA man with a reputation for fine dress and etiquette; a dandy or fop

  2. 2

    verb To act as a beau (towards); to court or woo

  3. 3

    noun CanadaUSdatedA male lover; a boyfriend

  4. 4

    noun A male escort

  5. 5

    noun A suitor of a lady

bo

  1. 1

    interjection An exclamation used to startle or frighten

  2. 2

    noun USslangFellow, chap, boy

  3. 3

    noun A quarterstaff, especially in an oriental context

  4. 4

    particle Final interrogative particle, used to invite agreement

    Swee bo?

  5. 5

    phrase Initialism of best of: Often directly precedes an odd number

    Best-of-three (bo3) Group Stage Match Information

  6. 6

    noun informalInitialism of body odor or body odour

  7. 7

    verb Initialism of bind off

  8. 8

    particle Final interrogative particle, forming a yes-no question from a declarative statement

Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.

Which is more common, beau or bo?

beau appears 3.8 times per million words; bo 10 times per million words.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

The words